Fast forward to today when he still has lots of energy. This often translates into lots of running.
As one of his former hockey coaches said: "that kid runs like a gazelle!!"
And run he does.
He started running cross country last year, and since he had so much success with it, he did it again this year.
To make a long story short, he won. He won each of the three races he was in. He won a small meet, he won the city-wide meet, and he won the district-wide meet.
Now the fact that he won all of these races is awesome, amazing and outstanding. And we couldn't be prouder of him. But what I found more impressive, was the way this kid just focused in on the race, ignored all distractions, nerves and pressure, and just got the job done.
Coming into each race, there was an 'expectation' that he would win. Rightly or wrongly, everyone just assumed that he could repeat last year's performance. For a 10 year old that is a LOT of pressure. Chris and I kept telling him that we'd be proud of him no matter what, and that he should run for himself and no one else.
"Yeah, yeah Mom" was his reply. (which I guesss is slightly better then a grunt!)
When each race day arrived, I was a mess. I tried not to show it to him, but inside I wanted to throw-up because I was so nervous for him.
Aidan on the other hand? He would prepare for each race by chasing his friends, laughing and playing games. Not a care in the world - or so it would seem.
After the final race was done, he said to me:
"Mummy, my legs were like jello before the race."
I talked to him about it and he told me that he knew all the other boys were gunning for him. He knew that everyone thought he would win. And he told me he was very, very nervous before the race. And yet somehow that little boy turned his nerves into energy and ran the race of his life.
We couldn't be prouder.
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