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Climbing Wall ParentingParenting is a difficult task. This is not news for anyone that is a parent, especially of teenagers. I find that our home is often a roller coaster of emotions and conflicts. I never thought that my lovely talented daughter would challenge me the way she has. I also never thought that a climbing wall would help restore our relationship. In the middle of the school year my daughter's school counselor requested a meeting. She told my husband and me that our daughter had very little self confidence and that her self esteem seemed low. She suggested that we enroll her into a weekend confidence builder course. I was shocked by these observations of our daughter. She had always seemed so sure of herself in elementary school. The counselor had our daughter join the meeting and presented the weekend course to her. My daughter agreed that she would go. We dropped off our daughter at the conference center late in the afternoon on a Friday. We were shown around the site. In one area was a climbing wall. It was explained to us that each participant is challenged to navigate this wall by the end of their weekend experience. A climbing wall is an artificially constructed wall with hand and foot holds that are used to climb to the top. The participant is placed in a climbing harness and has safety ropes attached to them. The climbing wall is straight up so there is a person below you giving you directions on which way to reach to gain the next hand or foot hold to make it to the top. This builds confidence as well as cooperation with the person giving and receiving the instructions. My daughter was very doubtful about achieving this when my husband and I left her there. On Sunday late in the day we went to pick up our daughter. She greeted us with a huge smile and the most genuine hug I had received from her in a long time. She could not wait to lead us to the climbing wall. I watched her getting strapped into the harness and then begin her assent. I was amazed as she went up the wall, following the directions and encouragements of the people below her. She was at the top of the climbing wall in a few minutes. She then repelled down and took her turn encouraging another participant to scale the wall. Her excitement over her achievement with the climbing wall was wonderful to see. We were then told that any parent that wanted to be directed up the climbing wall by their child could also participate. My daughter knows that her father is very athletic and would be able to do this with little direction; however she asked me to do it. I was strapped into the harness and with my daughter’s directions started my assent up the wall. It took me a much longer time to get to the top than it did my daughter, but with her directions and my husband’s encouragement I made it. It was actually more difficult for me to repel down from the top of the climbing wall than it had been to go up. The climbing wall experience did take me out of my comfort zone and having to rely on my daughter for directions has had a lasting effect on out relationship. The weekend experience helped bring back my daughter’s confidence and self esteem. We still have our battles, but I think we will be ok. Climbing Wall Parenting This Story continues
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