First life lesson....DON'T LOSE YOUR FREAKING CAMERA!!!! Seriously people. So annoyed.
Anyway, enough about that. Last weekend turned out to be an interesting weekend for our Miss Hallee. Full of life lessons for all of us.
Hallee had her final dance recital of the year last Saturday. She had performed the routine at least seven times. She knew the routine inside and out. But minutes before they went on the floor they realized they were missing one of the girls on the team. Oh well. Show must go on. But then they realized this girl helps lift Hallee in all of her stunts. Oh crud. Her coach quickly tells her how to improvise. Let's just say it didn't go so well. Without the lifts the girls got confused and poor Hallee started to fall apart. With 15 seconds to go in the routine the tears started to well up in her eyes and she displayed defeat. My heart ached for her as she walked off the floor disappointed and embarrassed. LESSON 1: WE ALL MAKE MISTAKES. Try convincing your nine year old of that. In the middle of our pep talk her coach approached to tell us the missing girl had shown up and they were going to allow them to try it again if Hallee wanted to. LESSON 2: WE ALL FALL DOWN....IT'S UP TO YOU HOW/WHEN YOU GET BACK UP. I was nervous Hallee was going to say no. I was terrified she was going to end an amazing year on a horrible note. But her determination surprised me. She quickly wiped her tears and said yes. I was a nervous wreck. I've been there done that. Would her nerves get the best of her and she would forget the routine? Would she stumble and fall again? Should I protect her from further heartache and give her a way out? Holy crud I was sweating bullets as she walked back out on the floor. But she pulled it off flawlessly and walked off the floor smiling ear to ear. What an amazing accomplishment!
Later that afternoon her dance studio held their awards banquet. As the ceremony started you could hear and feel the buzz of anticipation, every girl secretly longing for their name to be called. They announced they would be handing out 9 specialty awards among the 200+ girls studio wide. Hallee looked at me with excitement. I started to panic. Hallee is my child that thrives off of positive reinforcement. However, on the flip side in the past she has been shattered by the lack of it. She over analyzes everything and takes it personal. For example, if I tell one of my girls they look cute or are they are a good friend all her little brain hears is that she must not be. (We're still working on that one). Anyway, I prayed she was not getting her hopes up. One by one they started reading off the awards. "Most improved, best technique, best showmanship, and then they came "hardest worker." Imagine our shock when they read her name. I'm not going to lie, I think I was more excited than Hallee. This was an AMAZING and remarkable award for Hallee (let's just say when it comes to chores or homework this is NOT the award she would be receiving). Sorry Hals but its true. LESSON 3: HARD WORK PAYS OFF!!
I could barely contain myself. All I wanted to do was jump up and down and do a back flip or two! And that's when I caught the eye and then eyes of her teammates. They tried to look excited but struggled to hide their own disappointment. And that's when something extraordinary happened. As Hallee came back to her seat one of her teammates jumped up and hugged her. She told her how happy she was for her and how much she deserved that award. SHE IS NINE! Tears welled up in my eyes as I watched this sincere act of love, compassion and friendship. Hallee's 2 1/2 foot tall trophy seemed to pale in comparison. LESSON 4: THERE ARE GREATER ACCOMPLISHMENTS THAN TROPHY'S AND AWARDS. Hallee and I were both so touched by this sweet little girl and shed a few tears on the car drive home.
I am so grateful for the lessons we learned. Proud and excited for my miss Hallee. And amazed and humbled that one nine year old girl could put it all in perspective for me.
Anyway, enough about that. Last weekend turned out to be an interesting weekend for our Miss Hallee. Full of life lessons for all of us.
Hallee had her final dance recital of the year last Saturday. She had performed the routine at least seven times. She knew the routine inside and out. But minutes before they went on the floor they realized they were missing one of the girls on the team. Oh well. Show must go on. But then they realized this girl helps lift Hallee in all of her stunts. Oh crud. Her coach quickly tells her how to improvise. Let's just say it didn't go so well. Without the lifts the girls got confused and poor Hallee started to fall apart. With 15 seconds to go in the routine the tears started to well up in her eyes and she displayed defeat. My heart ached for her as she walked off the floor disappointed and embarrassed. LESSON 1: WE ALL MAKE MISTAKES. Try convincing your nine year old of that. In the middle of our pep talk her coach approached to tell us the missing girl had shown up and they were going to allow them to try it again if Hallee wanted to. LESSON 2: WE ALL FALL DOWN....IT'S UP TO YOU HOW/WHEN YOU GET BACK UP. I was nervous Hallee was going to say no. I was terrified she was going to end an amazing year on a horrible note. But her determination surprised me. She quickly wiped her tears and said yes. I was a nervous wreck. I've been there done that. Would her nerves get the best of her and she would forget the routine? Would she stumble and fall again? Should I protect her from further heartache and give her a way out? Holy crud I was sweating bullets as she walked back out on the floor. But she pulled it off flawlessly and walked off the floor smiling ear to ear. What an amazing accomplishment!
Later that afternoon her dance studio held their awards banquet. As the ceremony started you could hear and feel the buzz of anticipation, every girl secretly longing for their name to be called. They announced they would be handing out 9 specialty awards among the 200+ girls studio wide. Hallee looked at me with excitement. I started to panic. Hallee is my child that thrives off of positive reinforcement. However, on the flip side in the past she has been shattered by the lack of it. She over analyzes everything and takes it personal. For example, if I tell one of my girls they look cute or are they are a good friend all her little brain hears is that she must not be. (We're still working on that one). Anyway, I prayed she was not getting her hopes up. One by one they started reading off the awards. "Most improved, best technique, best showmanship, and then they came "hardest worker." Imagine our shock when they read her name. I'm not going to lie, I think I was more excited than Hallee. This was an AMAZING and remarkable award for Hallee (let's just say when it comes to chores or homework this is NOT the award she would be receiving). Sorry Hals but its true. LESSON 3: HARD WORK PAYS OFF!!
I could barely contain myself. All I wanted to do was jump up and down and do a back flip or two! And that's when I caught the eye and then eyes of her teammates. They tried to look excited but struggled to hide their own disappointment. And that's when something extraordinary happened. As Hallee came back to her seat one of her teammates jumped up and hugged her. She told her how happy she was for her and how much she deserved that award. SHE IS NINE! Tears welled up in my eyes as I watched this sincere act of love, compassion and friendship. Hallee's 2 1/2 foot tall trophy seemed to pale in comparison. LESSON 4: THERE ARE GREATER ACCOMPLISHMENTS THAN TROPHY'S AND AWARDS. Hallee and I were both so touched by this sweet little girl and shed a few tears on the car drive home.
I am so grateful for the lessons we learned. Proud and excited for my miss Hallee. And amazed and humbled that one nine year old girl could put it all in perspective for me.
4 comments:
Good job Jamie on being such a great Mom! Oh so hard! Good job on handling it. Its so tough sometimes to be on this side of a "life lesson."
Great life lessons. It's hard when your kids have to go through them, but isn't it great they can learn them on their own?!
Thanks for sharing and teaching all of us. Congratulations Hallee!
Love all of you,
Mom
What a cute story! You need to give that NINE year old's mom a hug! : ) Congrats on the hard work!
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