Perseverence

This afternoon we went shopping in Amesbury, a small town about 20 minutes from Salisbury. On the way home we stopped in the beautiful Woodford Valley as I'd spotted a nice looking playground there and the sun was shining.

Ted played happily for ages on a little circuit of apparatus where you had to balance on various stepping stones and beams, but one wooden beam had no hand rail and he kept running past it. When I asked him why he wasn't having a go at walking along it he'd say 'it's too hard'.

A little later another family came along and, as children do, Ted joined in with them, playing on the seesaw and slide. But then the girl (who was 4) decided to do the balance circuit and had several goes at balancing along the wooden beam. She was delighted when she finally made it along without falling off, shouting proudly to her daddy. Ted had clearly been observing carefully because the next thing I knew he was on it too; wobbly at first and very slow. I told him he could put his arms out to the side if he wanted as it might help him balance. Carefully he edged along, slipped off a few times but climbed right back on. He was so proud of himself when he got to the end he went right back and did it again, and again, and again..!

I try hard to be specific in my praise so I told him how well he'd done in: trying something new, trying something he thought was hard, getting back on when he fell off, and most of all persevering until he achieved his goal. I love to see him achieving these little milestones.