Disappointment

Today was a hard day. As a mom I know we all have them. I am the mom of an overly cautious little dude. We try to talk him into many things and he always turns to us and puts his hand up and says, "mom that is too dangerous". He doesn't try too many new things and is proud of himself when he accomplishes something new, and disappointed in himself when he can't talk himself into doing something he wants to do. Today I had him all talked up to go to the splash pad with me. When we got to the splash pad there were some older kids there and the water was coming down pretty quickly. He was overwhelmed and I knew it wouldn't end well. We left and he was sad. I decided to head over to the local pool to give him a chance to redeem himself. Well without going into depth, that did not end well either. He was so disappointed in himself and I felt terrible because nothing I could say could help him feel the joy of just doing it and having fun.   I couldn't let the day end like that so I stopped by target and got him a pool. We filled it up and he had a blast. He forgot about the other situations was laughing and playing and enjoying the water. I love that he is my quiet, simple boy but I do get sad when I see him feel disappointment in himself.  He's little and doesn't need to have those feelings yet. I know he will get there in his own time and until then I hope I can continue to find things to turn bad days into something to smile about.