A Priceless Moment

Good news! You must be making progress!

:lol: Isn’t it wonderful when our kids can FEEL successful!! It is sometimes very hard for them to feel success when they are constantly bombarded by negative comments and also because of their on perfectionism. Good Luck to you both, Jan

It looks like you have done a great job of helping her find something she can excel in. Way to go!

How wonderful! And how smart of you to ask her how she felt about what she did. Even an island where a child shines and knows it can make a tremendous difference.

Beth

Cathryn
How awesome! It’s so great that your daughter has dance.

Thanks to you all, Jen, Roxie, Jan, Beth and rocco2. Yes, thank God she has dance. I had to post that, because those moments are so few and far between anymore. Some days I really believe we are making progress, and then others, I think her depression has sunk to a new low.

I began this thread last week with this post:

“I couldn’t NOT post this tonight. After my daughter’s private Jazz dance lesson tonight, she came running out of the practice room and she almost knocked me over. (used to be a frequent occurance) She said her teacher told her she did “GREAT” on her solo for the annual dance recital. I asked her what SHE thought. She smiled sheepishly, and said she “did good”.

She nailed that solo over a month ago. But she didn’t believe it herself. She didn’t believe IN herself. I think tonight, she finally did. She told me she wants me to come in to her private lesson next week, TO WATCH HER, and is going to ask her dance instructor’s permission as soon as she begins class next Wednesday.

This may sound like nothing, or petty, but to see my girl’s smile that lights up the room, so totally unexpectedly, was so precious for me.
_________________
~ Cathryn”

Well, tonight was my daughter’s weekly private Jazz lesson, it being Wednesday, and she told her teacher she wanted me to come in and watch the whole thing, just as she said last week she would do. Her teacher said no, but that we (my younger daughter and I) could come in and watch her do her routine once or twice at the end of her lesson. Teacher’s concern was, the owner of the school getting upset, because then all the parents would want to watch THEIR kids, if they found out we were getting special treatment. Well, the owner of the dance school gives us lots of special treatment, so I didn’t foresee a problem. But I waited patiently.

While my daughter was waiting outside the practice room before her lesson, she kept peering around the corner of doorway, shining that drop-dead smile at my daughter and me! It was so cute. Reminded me (again) of the way she used to be ALL THE TIME.

Her solo for the recital is to the Broadway song “42nd Street”. We were invited in for the last 10 minutes of her lesson. I was so choked up afterwards, I jotted down some thoughts, because I didn’t want to lose the feel of the moment, if you know what I mean. The following is what I wrote:

“I’m sitting in one of the lounge chairs at the dance school. My eyes are stinging with tears, and I’ve got this lump in my throat…don’t want to start sobbing here in front of everybody.

Gretchen was more than good. I couldn’t take my eyes off her, and all my troubles—her depression, the school problems, the financial mess, my own heartaches, etc.—it all fell away, for that one beautiful magic moment. She took my breath away.”

That’s what I jotted down on a ragged piece of paper from my purse, while fighting back tears, happy ones. My other daughter was spellbound as well. Can a mother be more proud than I am of my girl tonight?

to share with us…God bless you…and your lovely girls..

Very nice Cathryn. Keep that moment with you. For that matter, keep that scrap of paper in your purse and take it out as need be—for all of those other times when you are discouraged!

Thanks for sharing that moment.

Thank you, Patti and Jen.

Jen, you are right, I will keep that piece of paper. Will be helpful I am sure during the difficult times.