Who Would Have Guessed?

We wouldn't; that's for sure!!!

We wouldn't have guessed in a million years that our 1st grader, Addie, would be brave enough to perform at her school talent show!

For all who knew Addie between the ages of 2-4, I think that, if put to a vote, they would have definitely voted a huge 'No Way' will Addie ever perform in front of a big audience!  Back then, she would scream at people, "STOP LAUGHING AT ME," even if they were laughing nicely about a cute thing she had unwittingly done.  She couldn't stand any crowds to focus solely on her.  So, we worked with her, bribing her often;o), to try to help her overcome her terrible stage fright.  It was hard work, especially since I had to realize that I needed to change a lot as a parent to be a better fit for my Addie!  It was a lot of trial and error when trying to figure out when and when not to push her to go outside of her comfort zone.

The last few years Addie has bloomed more and more.  Still, though, when I saw the flyer for the talent show, I really contemplated not even bringing up the possibility of her performing in it.  I knew DrAmA would ensue!  I knew she would want to and wouldn't want to at all the same time.  I wanted to spare myself the headache, but I knew that it wasn't fair for me to not give her the opportunity to grow just because I was being emotionally lazy;o)  So, I brought it up.  A bit of drama ensued, but a little less than I expected.  

After hearing her expected 'I want to but I don't want to' statements, I reverified with her that I did not care what she chose.  I only would make her do it once she had committed to it and had sent in the sign up form.  She decided that she really did want to do it!!!  I still waited a full day afterward to see if she would change her tune or not.  After finding out that she had told her whole class about her singing in the talent show at 'share,' I decided to send in the form the next day.'

She practiced singing "You Are My Sunshine" often at home!!!  We came up with and practiced some one armed actions, while pretending to be holding the microphone.  We also bought her a 'sunshine dress' from Ross.  

Then, we gussied her up for the special night.  I think that I was secretly hoping that it would give her a bit more confidence going into it.

She had quite the fan club in her family:o)

We waited and waited and waited for her time to go up!  The whole time leading up to it, Addie was voicing her concerns, her fears, and asking if she could not do it.  "Mom, can we just leave and you can tell them that I'm sick?"  I broke it to her that she would have to do it!  She had committed to it.  I kept trying to quietly point out when other performers messed up, but continued on performing, reiterating over and over and over that it was just brave to get up there and that making mistakes was totally okay!!!  While giving all these pep talks, I had to reassure her while feeling incredibly uneasy inside.  At points, I was unsure if she would really get up there.  Jared and I confided in each other that we both were incredibly nervous!!!

It was finally her turn!  I walked her up and sat up front with Emmy to try to give her close support!  She got up there and she sang!!!

Yes, she sang, but she did not smile, even at the 'you make me happy' part of the song, above;o)

I took a few pics when she was singing but then just put the camera down so that I could just smile at my girl and absorb this beautiful moment that made me teary.  This was a beautiful moment and I tried to embrace it fully!  She was so brave up there, singing an a cappella solo.  Some may think that my account of this story is a little dramatic, mostly those who do not know Addie well.  For her, this was a monumental victory (her courage vs. her fear, and her courage won)!!!  We could not have been prouder of her!!!!!

This is a view of the crowd she performed in front of; plus, unseen,  there was a huge crowd of kids who were sitting on the ground up by the stage and more people standing in the back.  She got many positive compliments that night and she even got one the next week from a woman that recognized and remembered her!

It was only after she was done, that I realized how tense I was.  It took me way longer than usual to unwind from the stress of it all, and I physically felt it.  It was interesting; I was emotionally exhausted!!!

To celebrate, we took Addie to get frozen yogurt!  It was a great way to end a GREAT night!!!