Comfortable in Her "Self"

This school year has held some wonderful surprises. Surprises for us from our daughter. Unaware as we watch, she is just living, growing, developing and maturing. This past fall she came home and informed us that she wanted to audition for a part in the chorus play. I was thrilled and surprised. Surprised because at times I see her question herself and she is shy. She has doubts about her abilities. She is intelligent. She is a friendly, caring individual. Would she be able to stand up in front of people to audition? Ok, I think that is great! Audition. Give it your best shot and we will see what role you get. She auditioned. Not once, but twice. The turnout for this was tremendous. She did not get a speaking role, but a role none the less. She was going to be a bee in The Share Bears production. Why would this surprise me? Well, she can’t dance in front of her family members, especially her father, and she wants to get a part that she’ll have to perform in front of a hundred people. I am glad that our daughter is comfortable enough to get up in front of people - to share herself.

This year, she started attending religious education at a new church we are attending (our church closed). She sat right up front. Within minutes, she was raising her hand, answering questions. She did not raise her hand timidly. She held it up. Straight up in the air. You could not miss it. How is that for confidence? Then when the children broke apart to go to their individual study groups, I could hear her answering questions, volunteering to read and just fitting it. I smiled. I wondered if I would have been able to handle this situation the same way? I was very proud of her. Change doesn’t seem to hinder her ways. She adapts. She adjusts. She participates and gives it 100%.

She has teaching capabilities. She often helps teach her younger brother. She has a quick mind. When the topic is not clear to him or he seems confused, she poses questions to him that he can answer and thus, understand the topic. She is patient, thorough and detail-oriented. She willingly beats herself up to be perfect. A flaw we are working to deal with. She hears us exclaim often, “We cannot be perfect. It is okay to make mistakes. The important lesson is to learn from your mistake and carry on.”

She can keep pursuing her goals. We’ll support her. She can keep surprising us. I realize we must be pretty good parents. She knows we love her. She is building her confidence. She is responsible. She is thoughtful and kind. She definitely is a people-person. She does the best she can in whatever she does. That is all we ask. We are supportive. We want her to try. We want her to be successful. Yes, she’ll fail. But we’ll be there to pick her up, to brush her off and set her back on her feed.