School Sports Day

Careful balancing of the egg

Careful balancing of the egg

Thought I’d share out Sports Day experiences with you thus far (a grand total of 2!)

Last year, I have to confess I was a little nervous on our first Sports Day.  After all, competitive sports is not really my daughter’s thing – she has little legs which are still building up their strength and she is easily caught off balance due to her extraordinary flexibility and hypotonia.  I worried for her self-esteem if she came last in all the events….

I needn’t have worried….I laughed a lot (and wiped my moist eyes!) when she came last in her running race – she didn’t have a hope of keeping up with her much longer legged peers but she did it with such aplomb!  She didn’t give 2 hoots that they had left her for dust. Instead, she merrily waved to her crowd as she ran past whilst ALL the kids in the school chanted her name in encouragement!  She felt like a champion!  I felt humbled that she had found her way into so many peoples hearts and how they look out for her, support her and encourage her – children and adults alike.

Then she went on to shamelessly cheat in the egg and spoon race – there was some definite use of the other hand to hold the egg on!

However, this year…..the running race was pretty much the same, she came last to great cheers and with a big beaming smile on her face!  However, in the egg and spoon race – there was NO cheating and she came 2nd out of 4 – steady pace and careful technique won over the 2 boys behind her – very proud! 🙂

Running back to take 2nd place for the green team!

Running back to take 2nd place for the green team!

Out of the mouths of babes!

“I find there’s so many depressing articles, videos and pictures on Down syndrome, and I want to make these films to show the happiness and joy Magdalena brings to our lives I don’t have to try, we’re not a ‘special family’ Magdalena’s not an angel, we just all love each other. And this is just our lives. Disability is natural, we just live our ordinary lives, and I want to show the world that pity or sadness has no place here! ” 

Agnieszka Kolaczynska age 10, March 2013

http://www.agnieszkaproductions.me.uk/?page_id=658

Who is looking after who?

A beautifully written post about a man’s relationship with his big sister who has a learning disability.  This was posted on the Mencap website in April 2013.

http://www.mencap.org.uk/blogs/one-day#comment-13393

The thoughts echo my own observations of my daughter….I quickly realised that it is often MY worries and fears and expectations, not hers, that might hold her back!  She is courageous, determined, finds her own ways around any difficulties she faces and she can read people like a book!  I try and let her tell me what she can and can’t do (within reason!) – she may not always be able to voice all that she understands/ wants/ needs/ thinks but given the opportunity she certainly shows us!  I try not to wrap her in cotton wool or baby her or worse, underestimate her, as sure as eggs she’ll prove me wrong!