Sophie is brave.  Very brave.  We took her to an indoor rock climbing gym today and she climbed and climbed and climbed.  The first wall was easy and she made it to the top (about 25 feet high, mind you) in about one minute.

The climbs got progressively harder, however.  Although the height of the wall remained the same, each climb had differently sized footholds set apart at wider intervals, and walls that were not always at a straight 90-degree angle to the floor.  I was intimidated just watching her.

After the first couple of climbs, Sophie was feeling a little discouraged.  Even though she had managed to make it to the top each time, she was nervous.  She wanted to leave.  Her hands hurt.  But we encouraged her to stay. After a particularly challenging climb, the teacher asked which wall she wanted to climb, and both the teacher and Papa asked her if she wanted to attempt an easier one off to the right.

The fact that they assumed she’d want to go easy on herself pissed her off and she rebelled, choosing to climb a more difficult course to the left.  She overcame her fear and her pain, and proved that she could do better.  Below is a short video of Sophie as she reached the top.