Sailing With Ginger

Sailing, sailing over the ocean blue

We are so blessed to live near the water. Every summer it becomes more and more a part of our life. We spend countless hours on the peninsula, an area of Long Beach where there is ocean on one side and a bay on the other. We go to the bay. There are no waves and it is only crowded on the 4th of July. Sometimes we'll have the beach to ourselves. It is our own little slice of paradise.

One of the best things about the peninsula is meeting up with our buddies every week for beach day. A whole group of the boys' buddies (and mine!) have been meeting at the beach for the past few summers. The boys have a blast building castles and moats, catching sea snails, swimming and boogie boarding together. But the very best thing of all is when Ginger brings her boat.

That's right, Ginger is a sailor. Can she be any cooler? When she pulls up on the beach, those little boys gather around her like she is a movie star. They adore her. And she just loads them up on her boat and takes them out. I think it is the highlight of their summer. Last year was the first year James went out and he was hooked. Ginger has taught him how to do some things, like tacking (spelling?) and he really want to sail his own boat. Maybe now that he is a good swimmer, he can pass the swim test and take sailing with Daddy. He is more than ready.

William however, has not been ready. Last summer he would not go near the boat. This year, when Ginger came to the beach and took out the first load of boys, William watched them go. He stood there with his grouchy face on and said, "I'm not going on the boat."

But the next thing I knew, Ginger was back, William strapped on a life jacket, waved goodbye and climbed aboard. That boy is full of surprises.

When they got back to shore his grin was a mile wide. He was so proud of himself. He told me, "I liked it Mommy! It was bumpy, but I liked it."

Ginger said that while they were out on the water, it was pretty choppy. She asked William if he was all right and he told her that he was scared but he was going to hold on tight and that he wanted to stay on the boat.

I find him doing that a lot these days. He is often scared to try something, but after a bit, he puts on his game face and he goes for it. No amount of coaxing or cajoling from me will convince him to do it. It has to come from inside him. He is a very determined little fellow. There are positives and negatives to that. I am doing my best to see the positives, nurture them, and help them blossom.

I think the best part about watching William conquer his fears is seeing the great happiness he feels when he does. Every parent wants to see their child happy, and we do whatever we can to help it happen. That is what I find so challenging about William. I know he will love it if he does...fill in the blank, but he just won't do it. Nowadays he is doing those things a lot more and he is often a happier little guy.

I am glad that he joined the big boys on Ginger's boat. Now he has one more way to say, "I'm not little. I'm big!"

And I'm so glad Ginger brings her boat down to the bay to take our boys sailing. Soon there will be a little girl on that boat too. Lilly was already plenty mad when her Bubbas took off with out her.I don't think we'll have to coax her to get on that boat!

Here's to summer and sailing and William. I love my little sailor boy!