Elisa is jumping rope on top of the yoga mat and trying to do a cross jump. She’s getting frustrated because she can’t do the cross and there is a school skill competition tomorrow. I watch her technique and besides thinking she is jumping too high, I have no idea. What do I know about cross jumps. She tries a few more times and the I hit on it - YouTube to the rescue. And sure enough there are plenty of YouTube instruction videos. We pick one. Tights are not good on everyone. The instruction is good, Elisa is rapt with attention, playing parts over and over again. She still can’t do it. She’s frustrated. I ask her to take a break. She asks me if I think she can do the cross jump tomorrow. Yes, I lie.

In her frustration, I sit her down and ask her if she knows the difference between a crocodile and an alligator. We YouTube the results. See a massive alligator walking across a florida golf course. Then we move on to dogs on skateboards. Elisa relaxes.

At nine, Elisa feels that sense of pressure to complete a task that Lydia and Aidan felt at the same age and Lydia still does. The grind. To get it done. To get it right. I would have long given up on the cross jump. I’m ready to give up for her. I mean, it's friggin jump rope. Who really cares? Elisa.

The jump rope practice started about a month ago, in early November when you could still go outside in a sweatshirt. At first, it was how many jumps could you do in 90 seconds. I found myself getting winded trying to last that long. I guess years of doing medium effort aerobic exercise has finally caught up with me. That, and I’m 51.

Weeks past and there was still the occasional jump rope, I was thinking it was something she just liked to do until the night before the competition. When I was sure she had no chance.

The next day I saw pictures coming in via WeChat. There was Elisa. I hope she’s not too upset that she didn’t do the cross jump, I thought.

I got home from work and checked with her. She did it! She demoed it for me. Grit, determination, mixed it with a tiny bit of skill. Still an Allio.

Jump.