A Most Beautiful Resilience

It is the most inspirtational thing to witness a child work through personal problems, using their own imagination to create an entire team of support.

Pippi went to skating lessons on Monday evening. Towards the end of the 45 minute class, her teacher brought her crying from the ice. Pippi said her tummy hurt and that she'd fallen and hurt her head and tummy (she was wearing a helmet). She seemed very upset and weepy. When we got home she confided in me that she did not like skating lessons. She felt all the other kids were better skaters than she and skated much faster than she could. When she tried to catch up, she always fell down.

Pippi Full of Fun

I went about making supper and reassured her that she was just as good a skater as the other kids. She disagreed and said her tummy hurt again.

Then she got busy with paper, scissors and pencil crayons. A few minutes later Pippi said to me, "Gilbert is going to help me with my skating." I asked her who Gilbert was. It seems, Gilbert is a dear friend of Pippi's. He is a monster who lives in Kelowna. She has 3 other monster friends: Dill, a troll who lives in Africa and speaks French and English, Jackie a vampire who lives in Japan (she speaks no English) and Sam, a grass monster who lives in Africa. Each monster helps her with different areas of her life. Gilbert is a skating expert, Dill is a gymnast, Jackie helps Pip with soccer and Sam helps Pip with Gymnastics as well.

Pippi at Play

She showed me Gilbert and his walkie-talkie and her receiver. She will wear the receiver and ask Gilbert for advice while she skates. Gilbert will oblige with top-notch advice through the walkie-talkie system--skating dilemma solved!

 I also suggested I take her to practice during public skating times and she liked that idea as well.

Pippi told me her friends are flying on airplanes to the city where we live. She said, "Do you know why they're coming?" I said no. She said, "To visit me and my Granny."
(Pippi is very excited that my mom is coming later this week to look after her while Peter and I are at conferences). She said, "Gilbert has special vision, he can see the planes coming from Africa and Japan before anyone else. He said he'd phone me and tell me when he sees them coming (Gilbert is the only monster who lives in BC with Pippi). However, I have been coached that Pippi's entire crew of monsters wear watches that make them invisible, so I won't be able to see them when they arrive for the visit.

Walkie Talkie/    Gilbert/     Receiver Pippi wears on her Skating Pants

Good Luck Skating Charm From Jackie/ Sam's phone/ Dill's Phone

Jackie's Japanese Phone