Yesterday, Anna gave a talk on the topic of "The Words of Christ Will Tell You What Ye Should Do."
Daddy wrote her talk and I worked with her on singing the song: Keep the commandments. We practiced and she was ready.
Once it was her turn to give the talk, she buried her head in my tummy and said she was shy. Ugh.
Thinking fast, I said something like "You won't get to do gymnastics this week if you don't do this," and then she hurried up to the podium, read the talk, came to the piano and I accompanied her as she sang beautifully.
So...she did the talk and sang the song well...but...I don't like the way that it all happened. How can I encourage Anna to get up in front of people, especially when she does such a great job? Any thoughts?
3 comments:
Aww I bet she did so well! I'm not sure of a better way to make sure she doesn't get shy again - I know I used to get a some stage fright when I was Anna's age and I can't remember how my parents helped me with it (I seem to remember that they bribed me with a toy the first time but I wouldn't recommend that necessarily). I was enrolled in a childrens opera program that rehearsed after school one day a week and had performances 3 times a year. Each kid had a solo and I remember being afraid the first couple of times I performed, but with each passing performance the fear grew less and less until it was nonexistent. I suppose it just took getting used to. Perhaps you could enroll Anna in something similar so that she could go through a similar acclimation process (it could even be something like a public speaking club, choir, or drama club at school). I guess my only other suggestion would be to talk with her shortly before she has to do something like this again and say "hey, remember what an amazing job you did last time? I know it must have been a little scary for you at first, but you did wonderfully up there - you should feel proud of yourself! If you get up there this time and feel a little scared again, just remember how well you did last time - you'll be awesome, I know it!" or something to that effect. Hope this helps!
It is always frustrating to me when my kids "can't" do something I know they can. Even though you don't love how it happened, it did and maybe that will be all the encouragement she will need next time. As the post above said, "you did it and remember you did a fabulous job!!"
I think we all worry about getting up in front of people to perform. I used to be extremely nervous before singing or auditioning. Its definitely a process that I've had to work through. But one thing that really helps me calm down before a church performance is to have a prayer asking God that I can be a window to his light. That His Spirit will touch others as I perform. Maybe you could remind Anna what a gift it is to have the Spirit touch your heart and that she has thr opportunity to help in that process. You are a good mom Jill! :)
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