determination

Determination. Carter has it. Once again this boy showed that when something matters to him, he will give it his all and not give up. This time it was $5 in an Easter egg. Carter's favorite thing to do at Grammy's house is her annual Easter egg hunt. Each year he is the most excited kid, counting down the days. And why such excitement? Money. Grammy puts lots of money in her eggs and the cousins usually go home with about $10-15 each. Most eggs are filled with a little candy and an array of coins. But then there are those special eggs with $1 and even two with $5. Jared was lucky to get one of the $5 eggs this year. But after the kids had opened their eggs and counted up their money, we discovered the other $5 egg had not been found. All the kids charged back out to find the egg with no luck and gave up. Except Carter. He continued on because he knew he would find it. During the next hour, while Carter searched and searched, each parent took some time to kick around the thick, long grass to no avail. We double checked all the kids baskets, we counted up the bills, we questioned Grammy's memory (did you really put 2 five dollar bills out?), we recruited all the kids again and did a "sweep" of the lawn. Still no egg. Carter kept looking. Almost chanting as he searched, "I am going to find it". He would check in with Grammy once in awhile to get confirmation again that there was truly an egg out there with $5. He wasn't even discouraged when the Lisa and David planted an empty egg to mess with him. So as all the cousins played ball, roasted marshmallows and swung on the swing set, Carter's determination stayed strong and he kept looking. It was 8 o'clock and we gave the 5 minute warning before we had to leave. And then it happened. He found the egg! As I kissed him and congratulated him, I looked over at all the parents and gave them the look (did one of you put this here b/c you felt bad for him?) and all heads shook no. He was so proud of himself. And he had a new chant, "I knew I would find it". When I asked him why he kept looking? did he really want $5 that bad? He said it was partly for the money and partly because he just knew he could find it and wanted to prove it. The next day Claire was trying to find a certain pink bathing suit for her doll and was getting frustrated that she couldn't find it. And then she said, "oh, I know, keep trying and never give up". And I thought of Carter. She has the best example in her older brother.