Proud is a funny word to me. I remember my
grandfather used to always tell me (and still does!) that he was proud
of me and it always made me uncomfortable. I think I just don't really
feel like anything I do or have done is worthy of the word proud. It
carries too much weight and I didn't do anything to deserve for someone
to feel "proud" of me.
I
think it's taken becoming a parent and watching my children to truly
understand where he is coming from. I can't begin to express just how
proud I am of my little guys, but in particular Carter this summer.
Whenever I am praising him for something, whether it's swimming or
helping his brothers or using his manners, the word proud always seems
to come to mind. It's as if that one word sums up all the emotions that
I'm about to burst with.
This
summer was Carter's first time joining the swim team. He could've done
it in years past but just didn't really want to until this year. You
have to pass a swim test that's basically just making sure that in some
form or fashion you can make it 15 yards down the pool. Carter's swim
test was his first time in a pool since last September so he was a
little rusty to say the least! He's only had swim lessons to make him
able to survive in the pool, but no lessons about strokes, dives, etc.
Jamey said he almost didn't make it and the coaches said he should be
fine but would maybe need some private lessons to catch him up.
Carter
didn't seem to notice and was just happy to have made it and have a
fancy new speedo (thankfully the longer kind!) to show for it. Every
week the progress we saw him making was truly unbelievable. Most of the
kids had been on swim team before and understood what the coaches meant
by streamline, freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, and diving but for
Carter it was all new. He learned so quickly and was determined to be
able to do just what the coaches were asking of him. He never acted
frustrated or down, just motivated to try harder and get better and
that's just what he's done.
I
think it's pretty safe to say that Carter has quite a bit of
competitiveness in him and I love it. I am about the most competitive
person I know so the apple must not fall far from the tree in our case!
I say this and I really do mean it that I want Carter to do his best
and give it his all and wherever that puts him I am overwhelmingly proud
of him, regardless of whether he is first or last. His personal best
is all that matters. Don't get me wrong, I love for him to be first and
hurt more than him when he isn't but trying and doing his best is
ultimately all that matters.
He
loved every second of swim team and dove in head first and hasn't
stopped. He thought in the beginning of the season that he would hate
backstroke but it's proven to be his favorite. He won first place in
his age group in every meet but one. He was beyond devastated to get
3rd place in "his" race against Prestonwood, a team he still talks about
hating! He found out the next day at practice that he'd actually swam
his fastest race yet so that made it much easier to take. He won
ribbons and medals and made himself a swim team wall on his closet door
to proudly display all of his hard-earned loot. He talks about swimming
every second, he practices his strokes in the air all the time...Jamey
said Sunday at Communion he walked away from the altar practicing his
backstroke arms! He is dying to swim "year round" and looks so forward
to the next time he gets to be on a swim team.
He
had his team banquet last week and also had a t-ball game that night.
We gave him the choice of which to attend and he chose swim without a
doubt. I knew all the kids would get trophies so I had a pretty good
idea that he'd pick swim! The banquet was much more formal and much
longer than I'd anticipated so I was trying desperately to quiet a
squirmy Hudson and ready to swim Cooper. I eventually had to walk away
with them because they were being too loud and when I did I happened to
pass the pool manager who stopped me to say not to go too far because
Carter would be getting an award. I thought she was talking about the
trophies, which every kid was getting so I kept going a little further.
The only individual awards they were giving out were for a boy and girl
in each age group called the Coaches' award. When Zach, the head
coach, started talking about the 6 and Under boy, it all started to
sound familiar. He started by saying this 6 year old was new to swim
team and came in with no previous swimming experience. He went on to
say this swimmer was always so positive, supportive of his teammates,
and committed to learning that he quickly became one of the best on the
team and went on to set pool and team records in backstroke. He also
told a story about the championship meet where the swimmer had a stomach
ache and still swam backstroke and breaststroke for his team and also
swam up and participated in 7 and 8 year old relays. He said when the
boy got out of the pool after the last race, he noticed he was crying
and thought it was because his stomach was bothering him. When he asked
what was wrong, he said "I'm just really sad that swim team is over!"
He ended by saying what a pleasure he was to coach and happily announced
that the 2012 Coaches' Award went to Carter Bass.
Now
I'll get back to that proud word. The pride I felt for my amazingly
sweet and talented child was indescribable. I get that overwhelmed,
lump in my throat feeling just thinking about it but that wasn't the
only time I was proud this year. I'm always proud watching him do well
in sports but swimming is so different. It's one thing to watch him
score a goal in soccer or get a good hit in t-ball, or make a good throw
to first, but to watch your tiny (in comparison to everyone else) child
get up on the starting block, stand there as still as a statue by
himself, and dive in at the buzzer and swim his heart out is different
for me. I'm so nervous for him that I feel like I'm up on that block
but he says he isn't ever really nervous, except one race when he had
to swim against his friend who is an amazing swimmer!
First meet of the season!
Showing off their hardware with Coach Patrick. This is the little guy Carter was nervous to swim against!
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Carter thought it was so cool to see his name and a 1 next to it after his race at the championship meet!
Ready for his relay start!
Happy after getting his trophies!
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