Claire had her Christmas program at preschool last week. This was the first of many school programs for us and Claire did not disappoint.
We were a little nervous about whether or not she would actually get on stage. She loves to sing and had been practicing with the CD all during Thanksgiving break. (Even David can sing the songs now.) But she would burst into tears every time I talked about getting up on stage to sing. At their dress rehearsal the day before, her teacher told me that she refused to get on stage and that we might not want to even bother coming to watch the program because she thought there was "no way" Claire was going to do it.
Well, I had a little talk with Claire on the way home that day. I basically told her that (1) there was no reason to be scared and (2) we were going to quit ballet if she didn't get on stage the next day because I was not going to suffer through a year of ballet classes (and pay for the recital costumes which I had to pay a deposit for last week) only to have her refuse to participate in the recital at the end of the year. Well, it worked! As you can see below, she got on the stage no problem. She even smiled a little, although I thought she might burst into tears at any given moment. She kept looking out in the audience at me for reassurance. She did great and I am so proud of her.
I think she is proud of herself too. She told everybody we saw that next week about singing on stage and she kept saying to me "are you so proud of me?". (And she remembered that she could "go to ballet now".) I am glad I pushed her a little (well, a lot actually), but that it turned out to be a positive experience for her. Mission accomplished!
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