Gritty Kids

I know that Grit is becoming such a buzzword these days, but that doesn't undermine it's importance.  As a parent, I want to do everything I can to encourage my children to have a strong work ethic and to look at failure as a learning opportunity.  I don't want them to give up too easily or avoid things that are hard.  I want them to be gritty.

Honestly, I am not sure how to teach my kids to be gritty.  In fact, I am not always sure how to embody it myself in order to set a good example for my kids.  I often get frustrated when I fail, and that frustration comes out in ways I am not proud of.  I throw pity parties when things don't go my way, and I'd rather sulk than get up and move on.  I get lazy and secretly hope other people will do the tasks that I really dislike instead of just sucking it up and doing it myself.

As hard as it is for me to have grit, how do I help my children be gritty?  Well, the beauty is, they've got more than I typically give them credit for.  There have been a few situations that have come up over the past few weeks that have surprised me and remind me just how amazing my kids are.  I wanted to record them so I remember these moments a few weeks down the road when Barrett refuses to try to play his piano piece again after playing it incorrectly, and Audrey is crying because she "can't do anything right (her words, not mine)."

• Two weeks ago, we were at my parents house, and my dad had bought a little motor bike.  Barrett wasn't allowed to ride it, because he can't ride a bike without training wheels.  Determined to ride the motor bike, he learned in a matter of about 20 minutes to ride his bike without training wheels.  He did get to ride the motor bike after that.
• When Audrey first started her piano lessons, it seemed like she ended up in tears every time she practiced.  She would get frustrated when she didn't sight read songs correctly the first time and would subsequently shut down so she was at that point incapable of playing them correctly at all.  Since the school year started, she has been much more diligent about practicing and the piano induced tears have decreased drastically.  
• Since Audrey learned to read, I have dreamed of her reading the same books I loved as a child and sharing the joy of those stories with her.  I have tried time and again to encourage her to read long chapter books with little success.  She starts them and then before she can even get into the thick of the plot, she stops reading.  A couple of weeks ago, one of her classmates encouraged her to read Harry Pottery.  So, now she's reading the first book, and I have to go tell her to stop reading and go to sleep at night.  I know it's a great book series, so I can understand why she finds it so interesting.  Still, it is great to see her sticking with something!
• One morning last week, I was getting ready for work and went to ask Barrett and Audrey to get ready for school.  They were both in Barrett's room, sitting on his bed.  When I asked what they were doing, Audrey explained that she was teaching him to draw a star.  I then noticed a stack of at least 20 sticky notes covered in marks that were starting to more and more closely resemble stars.  It was great to see that not only were they working together, but that neither of them was getting frustrated by how long it was taking Barrett to draw a star correctly.  Now, Barrett is drawing stars on everything!  

These may be small moments, but they're worth celebrating, because they're moments when these kids worked hard and didn't give up.