RS and the perils of being a twin

Most of the time being a twin has served Abby very well. If it weren't for Grace hitting milestones on time I am not sure we would have realized so early on that Abby was behind. I doubt she would have crawled or walked when she did had she not had a sister to keep up with. There are things like running track, swimming, climbing at the playground, etc. that we might not have done had Grace not been more developmentally age appropriate.

But every once in a while it back fires. Like tonight. Grace is a great swimmer. She has been swimming since she was four. Abby is a good swimmer although her awkward development means awkward swimming. If you throw her in the middle of the pool she can swim to the side (thank God) but it isn't necessarily pretty.

Grace has practiced all summer and tonight she passed her diving board test. She had to swim the length of the pool freestyle, tread water for 30 seconds and swim back. This is not easy as we have a big neighborhood pool. It is actually a feat few 6 years olds accomplish at our pool. While Grace was swimming Abby was her biggest cheerleader. After she passed Abby was hugging her and cheering for her. She was the first in line to watch her dive.

Then it dawned on her.

Grace accomplished yet another thing that she did not. She got passed by. Her "disability" slowed her down. Although not entirely true because Grace is a physical anomaly for her age but still...

That's when the tears start. And the snowball effect happens. It becomes all too obvious that she is different. She is slower and weaker and can't do everything that she wants to do. In those moments the fact that she has come SO FAR means absolutely positively nothing to her. And that isn't easy to watch.

Lucky for us those moments are few and far between. But when they happen... we all want to cry with her.

Posted by Kristen Fescoe