By Ashley Nance –
Noah grunted with effort as he raised his foot up high to reach the next step.
“You’re almost there!,” came a voice from below.
He reached up and grabbed the bar that marked the end of his journey. Then, slowly, he pulled his body up and onto a platform of the playground and stood up. Looking around, he found his Mom, beamed, and raised his arms above his head.
“Yay! Good job, buddy!” They were both beaming and clapping their hands now. “You did it all by yourself!”
Caleb watched the whole scene from the swings close by. When he saw how much attention his little brother was getting for such a simple thing, he jumped off his swing and ran over to the play set.
“Look, Mom!” he said, and she watched as he effortlessly scaled the plastic cliff side. At the top, he stood and threw his arms up into the air.
“Tada! I did it!”
“Good job,” she said with a smile, and then hurried over to see where Noah had disappeared to.
Caleb frowned. Mom liked what Noah did better than what he did, even though he did the same thing! He stomped over to the slide and slid down, but it didn’t help him feel any better. He looked around to see what else he could do. He saw that Noah was about to slide down a tiny slide on the other side of the play set. There was Mom again, cheering him on like it was the most exciting thing she had ever seen. She hadn’t even noticed that Caleb had slid down the slide without any help at all!
“Wee!” said Mom. Noah was too excited to do anything but giggle.
Look at them. They’re just being silly. Having so much fun, it’s like I’m not even here, Caleb thought.
“Humph!” he called out, still sitting at the bottom of the big slide, and hoped his Mom could hear him over the ruckus they were making.
She looked over at him and sighed. She walked over and sat across from Caleb on the ground.
“What’s the matter?” she asked.
“Why is what Noah does so much cooler than what I do?”
Mom sighed again.
“Noah is much younger than you, so he is just learning to do the things you are already good at.”
“So. I’m older, and nothing I do is cool now,” Caleb pouted.
“No, Caleb. That’s not true.” She opened her mouth to say more, but then closed it again.
“Mommy! Oooooh Kay!” shouted Noah. Mom jumped up and ran over to him, just in time to catch him as he jumped off by the fireman pole.
“Humph!” Caleb said again, and folded his arms.
Mom came back carrying Noah.
“C’mon, it’s time to go home. We’ll talk more in the car.”
He marched over to the car, arms still folded, and got into his booster seat. He buckled himself in as Mom got Noah into his car seat and wondered whether he could do anything to make Mom proud.
“Thanks for buckling up, Bud,” said Mom, looking at him through the rear-view mirror.
Caleb looked up at her, but didn’t say anything. Mom thought for a minute.
Then she said, “You know, Caleb, when you asked me about you and Noah doing cool things, you helped me think about it in a way I hadn’t thought about it before.”
She was smiling.
“I think I figured out that I get excited when one of you works really hard to accomplish something or tries something new. Today at the park, Noah worked hard to get up the little mountain, and he is still getting used to going down the slide by himself. How about you think of something new or challenging you can try, and we’ll work on it together.”
Caleb nodded without saying anything. He was quiet all the way home.
As soon as Mom opened his door for him, Caleb jumped down from his seat and ran up the walk, onto the porch, through the door, down the hall past his Dad, up the stairs, and into his room. Moments later, Mom came into the house with Noah and was greeted by an enthusiastic and out-of-breath Caleb. He held his favorite book up high for her to see.
Dad asked, “What’s the rush, Chief?” and gave Mom a kiss.
“I am happy to read to you,” she said to Caleb, “but I need to start dinner. Can I read to you after?”
“No, I want to read it this time,” Caleb explained.
Dad gave Mom a look, and Mom gave Dad a look. Then she said,
“Would you take Noah and put some water on the stove for me? Caleb’s on a mission.”
Dad smiled and said, “Sure!”
Mom followed Caleb up the stairs and into his room. They sat together on the big beanbag chair and opened up the book. Caleb began to read. He struggled through many difficult words, but he tried to figure them out for himself before asking for help. At long last, he snapped the book shut with a big, “The End!”
“Caleb! You did it!” said Mom. “That was so hard but you stuck to it and you did it! I’m so proud of you!”
“I only asked for help two times!”
Caleb grinned from ear to ear as Mom squeezed him tight.
“All right!” said Dad, which made them both jump, “I knew you could do it. I think this calls for a celebration! How about ice cream for dessert?”
“Yay!” Caleb shouted, and jumped up from the beanbag chair.
“Yay!” Noah echoed with a big smile on his face.
Dad gave Caleb a high-five and then wrapped him up in a big bear hug. Then they all went downstairs for dinner with big smiles on their faces.
the end.
Question Time
1. Why did Caleb start doing tricks like Noah?
2. Why did Caleb’s mom get so excited for Noah?
3. What did Caleb do at the end of the story that was hard for him?
