Not Everyone's Mama

Yesterday was Jordan’s day to run the mile that he signed up for.  It was a celebration of our school’s cross country team and to get the kids excited about cross country before they move up to the older grades where they get a chance to actually run for the team. 

Remember, I was in shock that Jordan asked to sign up for it again this year. (He ran it in 3rd grade, then skipped 4th.)  He got home from school yesterday and said, I don’t want to do it.  I said, you signed up for it.  You follow through on what you say you will do.

I’ll come in last.

I don’t care if you come in last, I’m so proud of you just for trying to do it. I’ll be at the finish line cheering you on!  So, we headed up to the school and met up with my mom and dad, who came to cheer him on too.

And they are off!  That’s Jordan in the back with the black t-shirt and the Iowa Hawkeye black and white shorts.

Christiano (and his burrito) wondering exactly what we are doing.

Alyce, all excited for her big brother!

Katiana and my mom

It was hard you guys. Mom and I both wanted to cry for him, from the beginning you could see how far behind he was, but he kept going.  Boys kept crossing the finish line and we just kept waiting for Jordan.  And waiting. And waiting. He was a good 5 minutes behind the rest of the kids.  Then we saw him way off in the distance and we all started yelling for him.  I could see teachers along the way starting to run with him, encouraging him to keep going.  There was a group of 7th and 8th grade girls in front of us who had been cheering the boys on and my mom asked them if they could really yell for Jordan, I told them that this was really hard for him and to just really scream for him.

When he came closer to us, those girls actually started doing cheerleader routines for him.  At this point, my heart was breaking for him, I could see how dejected he was.

He had given up on running and was walking.  I told mom I was going to go run with him.  I ran over to him, and took his hand and said, come on. I’m going to finish this with you. He said, I can’t. I puked back there.  I said you can. It’s downhill from here.  I’ll do it with you.

My dad ran up behind us and started encouraging Jordan.  His computer teacher ran up and really started encouraging him.  He kept saying, I can’t breathe.  Come on Jordan, you can do it. He started running again, and we all stayed with him, running until we crossed the finish line. 

He got his participation ribbon.

He was so dejected.  He said he was humiliated. I said, Jordan, you volunteered to do something that was so hard for you.  For that matter,this was the second mile he’d run in 3 or 4 days. (He ran it in PE at the end of last week.)  Not only did you try, you finished it! I don’t care whether you came in 1st or last.  You did it!!!

On the way to the car, a lady with a camera that I dream of came up to us and said, I got a picture of the 4 of you running at the end. Do you care if I put it in the paper on Thursday?   My mom had just said, I wish I could have gotten a picture of you 4 at the end.  It was so neat! I guess Thursday she will get that picture. The lady took our names and got a quote from me then left. 

That cheered Jordan up a little bit.

Another lady came up clapping, way to go mom!   You do what you do to help your kids.  That’s all there is to it, you know?

You guys don’t know how hard it is for him.  He is a sports fanatic. He loves basketball, football, and he has played soccer for 6 1/2 years, but the positions he plays in soccer require short bursts of speed, not long distance running.  He tries so hard.  He wants to do all the stuff, and he puts his heart into everything.  His weight has been something we’ve fought since I took him off of ritalin and we haven’t found a fix for it yet.  He doesn’t just sit on his butt all the time.  He’s very active.  It hurts me that all these things that he loves, these things that come so easy for other kids, it hurts that they are so difficult for him.  I am so proud though that he doesn’t give up.  He keeps doing the things he loves and doesn’t let his struggles get in the way of that.

I love that kid so much.

I put a note in his lunch box today telling him –

I am so proud of you still!  To me, you are the real winner.  I love you.  Mom <3

I hope that puts a smile on his face (and doesn’t embarrass him at all).

Have a wonderful day!

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