Have you ever noticed how a child’s short attention span gives way to amazing persistence when the task is something she really wants; for example, learning to walk, tying a shoe, whistling a tune, batting a ball? And when the child falters at any of these tasks, the adults respond with encouragement, patience and applause for the effort.

The other day, the Dominican Sisters – Grand Rapids approached me interested in using a drawing that I did back in 2001 of a young girl learning to tie her shoe in their newsletter on persistence. This drawing appears in their May 2010 newsletter, available both in online and printed format.