So, of course I’m in this middle of this 3-part series on the ABC’s of surviving the holiday breaks with the kiddos, when my fingers are itching to post about something else entirely!

That’s about the way of things, isn’t it? Feast or famine, downpour or drought, [enter your own trite phrase here]!

So why not throw propriety to the wind and just take a quick jaunt down another road before we get back on the highway?

Sometimes life is about straying from pre-scripted plan, taking risks, stepping out of your comfort zone, doing the unexpected – which is EXACTLY what I need to post about!

I’ve written before about my drama-tween. It’s probably quite obvious why I call her that since those two words are pretty much synonymous, but the drama part is even more pronounced for this sweet child. She has discovered her talent. She has previously taken an after school drama course, and going into 6th grade this year she got to pick an elective. There was no doubt about it – she was so STOKED to take theatre.

Now the 6th grade theatre class is a mixed bunch – some kids who really want to be there, some kids who just picked it because it sounded like fun, and the kids who had to pick something and this class seemed like the lesser of evils.

Everyday, she comes home just bubbling about theatre, and she was invited to be an extra in the fall production put on by the advanced class. At the end of the semester, her teacher contacted me and said she saw such talent in my daughter that she would like to move her up into the advanced class for the new semester.

Now – the advanced class is typically 7th & 8th graders who had to audition to get in so this is quite a coup – she and 3 other 6th graders started in the advanced class yesterday. I have never seen my daughter SO excited. The teacher introduced her to the class full of praises and the older kids were super nice to her (to my relief)!

But here’s where we get to what I NEEDED to write about:

They are putting on a musical this semester – Alice in Wonderland, Jr. For some reason, my girl has always had an insecurity about her singing ability. Not really sure where she got that from since her dad and I are confirmed karaoke addicts. She holds full on performances in the shower, but for some reason she *thinks* she’s a bad singer.

Enter the problem…a school musical.

She told me about the musical, and that she thought she would just try out to be a flower. I said she should find out what part her teacher thought she should try out for before she made a decision. I told her that singing in a musical isn’t like choir – it’s about getting the emotion across in the song and being able to project as you sing, but she rolled her eyes and stomped off. (And no way was she listening to me when I said she sings good!)

As any good mom should/would do, I reviewed her text messages after she went to bed and there is a long string with another girl in theatre where my daughter basically admits that she’d rather have a better part but that she can’t sing high, etc…

I’m sad that she has this insecurity and don’t know how to help her. I’m disappointed that she is limiting herself because of a perception she has.

Any thoughts or advice on how to get her past this insecurity and believe in herself?