A golden morning

RaisingBoys — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 12:29:01 -0500

"You have to try."

That is the sentence I frustratingly repeated over and over again to my 3-year-old as he attempted to dress himself this morning.

Maybe it's all the Olympics I've been staying up past my bedtime to watch -- athletes breaking world records and overcoming obstacles for the glory of the games -- but for some reason, all my son's whining that he couldn't put his shirt on really got to me.

"I can't do it," he said. "You help me?"

"No, you can do it," I said. "You just have to try."

After another handful of "I can'ts," I told -- or, actually yelled -- at him to come to me.

He did with a little giggle, knowing that this is when Mommy always breaks down and puts the shirt on for him. But not this morning.

"OK, you're going to do this by yourself. You can do it," I said, as I watched replays of Mark Spitz and Michael Phelps on the "Today" show.

Alright, these guys had moms, too, moms who taught them determination and the skills to be world-class athletes, surely I can teach my son how to put a shirt on.

So I calmed myself down, and started giving my little boy directions.

"OK, turn your shirt around so the tag is in the back.

Alright, now see that arm hole there, put that arm in.

Good job. Now the other arm."

In no less than 5 minutes, we had worked together and accomplished our goal. Both of us smiled, and he hugged me so hard that we fell to the ground.

It wasn't exactly a gold medal feat, but it was a big win in our house.

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A golden morning