Stupendous Sunday!

What the...? I hope to get this right, it sort of weirdly published itself, or tried to. Went out for a climb today with our son. After an awfully stiff "warm up" pitch, replete with hard slab moves and so-called handcracks, we went over to the only moderate pitch on the lower Index Town Walls, called The Great Northern Slab. Only he decided that the best way to get to this so-called 5.6 crack that I would lead was up a slippery corner, then a 5.10 splitter crack. He bouldered the corner - i.e., no belay, just took the rope up with him - then bopped up the crack. Well, after he told me I just needed to stem to get up that corner, I tried, tried, failed, failed - was getting pretty frustrated at being unable to "just stem." Somehow or other I did get up the fucking thing, then faced this intimidating-looking crack. Once again, many attempts to get into the danged crack, then eventually decided I just needed to endure the pain on my hands and feet and get up there. Once I reached the ledge where our son was, he coached me on what I needed to do to lead the next 40 or so feet of nice-looking crack, what sizes of cams to use, how to use my feet and hands and body core to stay balanced, and assured me that if I couldn't finish it, I could lower. Well, kids, I stepped up to the plate and led the little pitch, placing four cams and running it out to the anchors, about 20 feet or so, without any protection. Not bad for a...mature woman. I actually feel a bit more confident.