Lily reminds me of myself as a child, I wasnt very confident, and from the moment I became a mother I always wanted to raise confident children, not in an headstrong way, but confident in their own abilities.
My beautiful little Lily has always followed in her brothers footsteps, him being only 16 months older they have always been very close, they even spent a term together in nursery. James makes friends easily, hes approachable and initiates friendships, he has lots of confidence. Lily is much more softly spoken, shes incredibly caring but she spends a lot of time thinking and she is shy. When James moved up into reception he found the transition really easy, but despite Lily remaining in her familiar nursery environment, and still seeing James in the playground, she found it harder to adjust and cried each day we left her.
A while ago, we were walking home and she ran ahead to speak to one of James’ good friends. He was stood holding onto the railings at the park, and Lily stood in front of him. As she approached his head was turned towards the playground, I could see her making conversation, and 5 seconds later her ran away. He wasnt being rude, he hadn’t even spotted Lily, but my heart broke when i saw her face, I reassured her that he hadnt seen or heard her, and she recovered quickly.
Yesterday, we were walking past the park again and James asked if he could go say goodbye to the same boy… I said yes and Lily asked if she could too. James ran and gave him a hug (A very boyish playful hug!), but as Lily approached he was already running away. My heart sank as I watched, she ran after him, barely keeping up, but when he stopped she caught his attention by tapping his shoulder and she threw her hands around him and gave him a huge hug (A much more girly affectionate hug), he returned the hug (albeit looking a little surprised, and maybe a little pleased – thankfully!) and she ran back over to me with a huge smile on her face.
It was such a small moment, but I am incredibly proud she had the confidence and courage to gain the older boys attention, and give him that cuddle, its something she wouldn’t have done a few months ago.