Oozing happiness

Sometimes as a parent you do things right. Many times as a parent you do things wrong.

Allow me to indulge on one thing that we did right.

Over the weekend, I saw my eldest daughter beam in a way I have not seen her do before. The smile came from the bottom of her soul. The happiness that she felt, came out of her pores, the sheer pleasure she was feeling was written on every inch of her body. It was one of the moments I will remember forever.

It actually was a spontaneous moment that easily could not have happened. However it did happen, and it happened with me. 

How we get to the moment is actually quite a long story, which was actually more planful and deliberate, yet in its own way it also emerged. Are you sitting comfortably? Then I will begin.

Back in Autumn last year, we were staying in a hotel with activities. One of the kiddie activities was horseriding. Well I say horseriding, but if you paid 5 euros, your child could plod around a piece of land a few times on the back of a pony. I am not a horsey type, I have no experience with animals at all really, thus I am not naturally drawn to such activities, that said I am not averse.

So off we went, plod plod plod. At one point I was asked to steer the horse, which I miserably failed at. I had absolutely no authority and the horse subsequently had zero respect for me. Oh well. However my eldest daughter stepped in, and the horse obliged. Aha!

This made my daughter very happy and gave her a nice confidence boost for the next few days.

The horsey interest had now been awakened. There was now an interest in horse books, looking at horses in fields and asking for lessons. One of my colleagues, who knows a little about some of the obstacles my daughter faces, encouraged me to pursue this interest of hers, saying that it could possibly be something my child needed and would ulimately benefit from. Mmmmm. 

So for Christmas, we organized her a voucher for two lessons, the first one on Thursday 8th Jan. She was thrilled when she opened that gift, really thrilled. However that is not the "happy" moment I am talking about.

Over the weekend, we went for a walk. We decided it would be good motivation to say we were going to walk to the stables. On the way, we ended up losing the husband and the youngest daughter to a luring coffee at a friends. So the two of us headed out alone, up the hill in our wellies.

The timing of our visit could not have been better. There was no one around, except the owners of the stables, who were mucking out and feeding the horses. We asked if we could have a look at the horses and it seems like they were welcoming the interruption. 

They introduced her to the riding hall, each of the twenty horses, showed her the one she would be learning on, allowed her to feed it, answered all her questions and generally made us feel very welcome.  My daughter was in her element, truly exploding with happiness. She could not believe that she was allowed to enter this new world. This new world of beautiful animals and interesting smells.

Her happiness radiated, her excitment was bubbling over and her sheer being was glowing.

Whatever will come of this, who knows. And honestly I don't mind. But I do know that I will encourage her to explore and keep at it, and if she keep just a little of that feeling for the future, she will have found a hobby with purpose and meaning.

So happy we had this moment together and so happy for her to uncover this new world.