I'm not sure who said it but I love the saying that, "in all things we can find something to be grateful for," and today I had a lot of really cool "ups". I'd like to talk about those here tonight.
We have been so lucky to have kids who let us keep our grand kids each summer and bond with them as grandparents can do when we have them all to ourselves. Living here has afforded us many fun things to do with them each and every day.
Earlier this summer we had our older grand kids, Cortney, Tori, and Tanner for a month and now we have some of our younger grand kids for the rest of the summer, or about 6 weeks.
The oldest of this set of kids is a grand daughter named Pyper and she's a 10 year but turning 11 in about 5 weeks. Pyper was born tiny at just over 4lbs and has always been tiny and slightly younger for her age so sometimes she can be fearful of trying new things or of doing things that are age appropriate. Every year we've watched her slowly closing those gaps which has been thrilling. Each summer that we've been able to have them I've been able to help her and work on those things in her life that will help her.
This day was a moment in time when we broke a lot of barriers with her shy, and timid personality and we were able to help her grow tremendously in her abilities.
It started right away this morning as we had our daily bluegrass music lessons. A few years ago, I had tried to get her interested in learning to play a guitar like her brother Ryker is learning, but she would always shy away from it because it was just a frustration for her trying to learn it. So for several years she would just throw up her arms and say that she didn't want to learn to play, and I could see that the reason was that it was just too hard for her co-ordination level.
Well last Winter I received the prompting to start her just chopping on a mandolin with dampened strings and this was our answer. She was able to do it and had success so she got to play for her class at school with Ryker and his classroom too. She hasn't looked back ever since that day, and now is willing to learn the bass too.
So back to my morning today... We got out the little Kay quarter bass which is huge for her and for our lessons her brother Ryker started off on playing mandolin, and her the bass. Then we sang with all three kids, and even 5 year old Greisyn was singing with us as we practiced. For the first time today Pyper learned how to change chords on the bass and was able to watch my hands and change with me getting it right almost the entire time. This is a huge step for her to be able to do this and she was keeping good time and best of all, is having fun with it too. This is so awesome for me to see.
Then we switched over and had Pyper chop the mandolin and I put Ryker on the bass. He's been playing the bass since last winter too but he has been playing guitar for 2 years and now is learning mandolin too. He could already changed chords with the bass on just the open strings. At 9 years old he's doing pretty good with his music. So today we practiced with him changing chords on all the open strings and after that I began teaching him to play the pressed down notes for the key of A. He was able to do it fairly decently for his first try and for such a little guy. I was so happy to have moved both kids forward with their music. Learning something new on the bass for each one of them and starting Greisyn on the singing was an "up".
Then at around lunch time I asked Pyper if she would like to learn to drive the 4 wheeler like her brother Ryker has already become a pro at. Now normally she would have bulked at the idea and been scared to try but she suddenly just perked right up and said "sure". We went outside and I began to teach her. She surprised me because she's been more observant than I'd thought and she knew just how to start it. I had to somewhat help her but for the most part she had watched Ryker or me enough that she knew. So she started it all by herself and I taught her how to shift from reverse to drive and to neutral. I helped her to back it up and then I taught her how to work the gas and drive it. I was riding on it with her but I let her do everything herself and she did it! I thought for sure that she would panic and not be comfortable when it started to move but, no, off she went and drove it clear up to Will and Gail's and back to our place twice. All I had to do was remind her to keep looking way out forward so that she could steer it and stay in the middle of our road better. Other than that she drove it all by herself and shocked the dickens out of me.
Then if that wasn't enough we all went down to swim in Gail's pond at around 1 this afternoon. It was a nice hot day and the kids wanted to go swimming. Now in the past she's been afraid of water and it's been a real deal to help her get over her fear of it. We've worked pretty hard with her to get her to understand that her life jacket will keep her afloat. She's just one of these kids who has a fear of the water and we've really tried to help her get over that. Each year that we've been able to have the kids she's gotten slightly better though. I've had to remind her each time we go swimming that there's no whining and that when I ask her to try and float and go in deeper than her feet can touch she doesn't need to fear but that her jacket will hold her up. It's been a long haul but today we broke down that barrier as well.
She willingly went on the float with me first and we floated around together, then I told her that we were going to practice swimming and she didn't complain a bit, so I was once again shocked. I worked with her and got her to let me completely let go of her hands and everything and float in her life jacket. Then I would walk away from her by about 5 feet and have her swim to me and she did this too. She was laughing and not a bit bothered by getting splashed from Ryker actually having fun swimming and this was the first time that's ever happened! I just couldn't believe all the leaps and bounds that this little grand child made today. She even drove the 4 wheeler all the way down to the pond for us to swim too, so this little girl has amazed me to no end today. I told her that we needed to call her parents and tell them about everything she did today so as soon as her mom was home from work we called and she got to tell them. I think her confidence with all these other things started with her learning to play the bass and chop the mandolin and having success with it at her school. Suddenly she is learning that she can do so many things. I love getting to help her and be a part of her growth. I can't wait to see how far she'll advance by the time summer is over.
Ryker was learning to ride the 4 wheeler last year but couldn't do it without us being on it riding with him. This year he's an ole pro and he is able to drive it all over our property all by himself. I've watched him and he's been very respectful on it driving carefully and at a regular speed so I've complimented him on this and hope that he always drives them this way. Anyway this has been my "ups" today.
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| Pyper Redman age 10 almost 11 |
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| Grandson Ryker, 9 years old does so well with his music he's really a natural and learns quickly. |
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| You can see how small the kids are and this is a Kay quarter bass but still dwarfs them. Ryker is playing actual pressed notes as of today. Way to go buddy, I'm proud of you. |
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