I wish I could take away her pain.

My oldest child is sadly a lot like I was when I was a kid. She is a homebody and sensitive. Which is not a bad thing, but can make her feel left out of fun things that her friends like to do. I was a Momma's girl through and through, seriously, ask my brothers. I couldn't tell you the amount of times I called in the middle of the night at a sleepover because I wanted to go home. That being said, I am completely sympathize with what she is going through. She had a birthday party for a friend at a local water park and had been looking forward to it for weeks. This park has a tall tube slide and body slide. They also have a diving board another slide. The tube and body slide empty into a less than 4 feet deep lazy river, but the diving board and other slide empty into a 12ft pool. Allison is a decent swimmer, no formal training, but can keep a float. I discourage my kids from doing the diving board or the slide that empties into the 12ft pool because they are not accomplished swimmers. I don't want them to plunge under water and panic if they don't pop up immediately. The other tall slides I have no problem with. Nicholas will go down them all day long by himself  and even Alexander who last year screeched in terror at the thought of going in the pool now loves them. He goes down the tube slide with my husband with a huge grin on his face. Allison? Not so much, she is scared to death. However at the prospect of being with her group of friends, she really wanted to try it. She made it to the top and freaked out, she said that once she looked down into the tube and saw how dark it was, she decided she couldn't do it even though she was going to go down on a double tube with her friend. She was a bit upset with herself, but tried to brush it off. Unfortunately her friends weren't so willing to just forget the incident. They were in no way shape or form purposely being mean to her, but were trying to encourage her to try it and to face her fears. Poor Allison just kind of cracked under the peer pressure and she was able to keep it together, but she asked to leave the party early. As soon as she was in the car, the floodgates broke open. It broke my heart. She was more upset with herself than anything. She said she just wishes that she was not so afraid of everything and such a "baby". I tried to reassure her that it was okay to be afraid to do things, but I know that it didn't help much. I told her of my experiences growing up and how eventually I overcame my fears. Well, at least most of them. lol I reassured her that there is absolutely nothing wrong with who she is and to be proud of herself. She is one of the most caring kids I know and I am not just saying that. She insists on making her friends birthday cards and she includes a picture she drew and an original poem. She tends to be a mini mommy at home, trying to help the boys stop fighting and fixing Lauren's boo boos. I try to get her to see herself through my eyes, but I am just mom. However I will encourage to tell her all the great things about herself. We are going to be enrolling in swim lessons this fall/winter and I am hoping by next summer she will be ready for the slides or diving board. If not, that is fine. There is nothing wrong with keeping both feet on the ground. As much as I wish I can fix everything for her, I won't since it is a part of growing up. While I want her to face her fears, I will NOT force her to do it. I will encourage her though and pick her up when she falls.