I Am So Proud

Miriam is in an advanced reading class.  I'm extremely proud of that but it's not the reason for this post.  Her class has been learning how to tell stories with expression and emotion.  To do that each student has memorized a story from another culture and they have presented them to each other in pairs and to their class as a whole.  Last night they presented them to family and friends in a show called the Folk Tale Festival.

Miriam started talking up the Folk Tale Festival several weeks ago.  She seemed really excited about it and kept asking if we could go.  At that point I wasn't sure what it was.  But then she came home 2 weeks ago with an invitation that she made herself.  I realized then that the Folk Tale Festival coincided with the ex-husband coming to town to spend this weekend with the kids since they have 2 days off school.  I thought that was a perfect opportunity for him to see more of where the kids are and who they're with all day.  The ex-husband agreed that it was a good idea and we made plans for it.

When I got off the phone Miriam collapsed into a crying mess and said that she didn't want to go.  It was a huge mess, figuring out what was wrong.  We finally decided that Miriam was probably nervous about performing in front of not just a group of strangers, but also her parents.  The teacher told me that Miriam was under no obligation to actually tell her story in public, that her grade was already determined by her work in class.  So I told Miriam that she would decide whether to perform her story and we left it there.

Last night I had serious doubts that she'd actually go through with it.  She still wouldn't commit to performing but wouldn't say that she wasn't doing it, either.  Finally, at the very end Miriam got up, put on the microphone headset and introduced her story.  She was very quiet and didn't add any embellishments to the story but she did it!  She spoke clearly without stumbling on her words and she was fantastic!  I was so excited and proud I couldn't stand it.  I admit it, I cried.

Miriam amazes me.  I really don't know how to put this into sufficient words.  If you know her you know that she is possibly she shyest child ever born to this earth.  She's extremely emotional -- sadness, anger, happiness, giddiness, silliness, they're all expressed in extremes -- in the privacy of our family but other people rarely see this because of her extreme shyness.  I've worried that she might have trouble in social situations throughout her life because of this.  But now I know she's going to be fine.  She possesses determination, smarts and discernment already at this young age and that is a great reassurance to me.