Sep 9 2008
Who's on first?
The other evening Paul was pitching balls to Nathan in the backyard. Nathan has a lovely swing and was a pleasure to watch. Lucie took a turn and had no idea how to hold the bat, let alone swing. She was so bad that it was a bit comical.
Now, you could say that at three years of age, that's normal. Not in our family. Nathan's been hitting baseballs and golf balls since he was two and always had a natural affinity for it (same with basketball). Lucie, on the other hand, has no talent in that area -- and that's o.k.
But Nathan doesn't like to do things he's not instantly good at. It's his biggest character flaw. We know it as do his teachers and even his speech therapist. He's a bad loser and gets frustrated easily. Yet, Lucie likes a challenge. She'll practice and practice until she's satisfied that she's doing her best, whether it's drawing, getting dressed, or getting food out of the cupboard all by herself (big sigh from mom on that last one).
A good example is learning to tie his shoes. Since it is a hard skill to learn (I have vivid memories of the tough time I had learning it in kindergarten) Nathan doesn't want to try. Paul has attempted to teach him for over a year, but Nathan refuses to learn or even practice.
So here's my prediction, which I've already shared with Nathan -- Lucie will be the first one to learn how to tie her shoes. Nathan thinks I'm right, and laughs about it. But it'll be no laughing matter when Lucie learns first -- and Nathan asks her to tie his shoes for him. I just hope she has the nerve to tell him NO!
