Tuesday, March 31, 2015

My Goals Teach My Daughter

Currently I am training for a half marathon on May 30th and my next figure competition on July 25th.  After my first half marathon I swore I would never run another, but I did and now I plan on doing a couple a year :)  Pushing myself again and training properly showed me that I could do it and actually have fun.  My goal for this years Dam to Dam is only to beat my time from last year.  My goal for the figure competition is to bring the best ME to the stage yet.

I do these things because I enjoy them, I like to push myself and have discipline.  I love to work hard for my goals and I share my goals with my daughter.  She sees me put in the hard work from going to the gym to going out for long runs on the weekend and playing volleyball on Sundays.  Soon she will be running longer distances with me and she can't wait to be able to start volleyball.

Last night she had dance and they received the recommendations for levels for next year.  Bella just lit up when she got her sheet and came running out of the studio to show it to me.  She went up to Level 3 in all genres, she was in Level 2 for ballet, Level 1 for tap and Level 1/2 for hip hop.  She could not believe she skipped an entire level for tap and was extremely proud of herself.

As we were driving home and talking about her awesome accomplishment she just amazed me.  She talked about how much she loves dance and that she knows she leveled up like she did because of her hard work but also because she has so much fun with dance.  My eight year old then went on to explain to me that listening to her teachers, working on her technique while having fun was how she leveled up.  But even if she hadn't she would have still been happy because it isn't all about what level she is at right now as long as she always works hard, has fun and is confident in her goals.

I asked her where she got the idea of working hard, having fun and being confident was a way to reach her goals.  

She said, "from you and daddy silly.  I love how hard you work for your competitions and I love watching you stand on stage and I know you don't care if you win or not.  You taught me that it doesn't matter if you win, just that you reach your goal and have fun doing it.  Daddy helps you by training you and teaching you to pose and he is proud of you."  

I didn't know what to say for a moment.  All I could say was that I was extremely proud of her and that she such a very special little girl and as long as she continues believing in herself and working hard she can achieve anything she puts her mind to.

I know she watches us and learns from us it is just moments like that where it hits me hard.  I feel proud that we are teaching her about goals and truly hope she carries these thoughts with her as she gets older and gets into sports.  

Today as I run on my lunch hour with extremely sore legs from leg day on Saturday I will think of her and how proud she is of me, that pushes me even harder for my own personal goals.


15 comments:

  1. So sweet!! You are setting an amazing example for her!

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  2. That is the sweetest thing ever! Out of the mouths of babes! : )

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  3. This melts my heart! What a great example you are for your daughter! Way to go Mom!! :)

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  4. That's awesome that your daughter's doing so well in dance! <3! I like that they personalize the comments they write too! :] That can make such a big difference!

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  5. I think you're setting a great example as well!

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  6. Thank you everyone! My biggest fear when I started competing was that I would give her the wrong impression in regard to body image. I love that she views it as we have always intended :)

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  7. The rest of my comment died! :x Here's the other chunk! :O

    I think the best way to teach someone is to practice what you preach and be a good role model, and it definitely sounds like your daughter's learning valuable life lessons just from observing what you do in your everyday life! <3

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  8. It's so nice that your daughter is inspired by you!!!

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  9. How sweet. What an amazing example you're setting.

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  10. That's so sweet! Our kids totally notice everything we do. We can talk our heads off but it's what we do that matters. It's all in what they see.

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  11. How sweet! Clearly you're doing everything right with her <3

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  12. OH man this is such a nice post!! So good to hear your inspiring her to be the best she can be!!

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  13. What a great role model you are to your daughter! :)

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  14. This just warms my heart!I love that you are setting such a positive example and that you're not hiding your hard work from her!

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  15. that's so sweet! I'm glad she has someone like yourself to look up to :)

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