It’s the words no parent wants to hear.
“Mom I am in the talent show!”
I mean I guess if you have a child prodigy that can sing and dance like Michael Jackson or play the piano like Beethoven or crush through wood planks like Chuck Norris – awesome. The talent show is for your child. But these words scared me. My kid isn’t talented.
And before you get all Sesame Street on me telling me every child has their own talents blah blah blah -hear me out. I know my kid is talented just not in a “I will be the next America’s Got Talent star” kind of way. And I remember how mean kids can be.
And then he drops this bomb on us…
It’s an original song. About Bulbasaur the least appreciated Pokemon.
There is no parenting book that preps you for this.
So what to do? Do you encourage them to get up there and rock it out? Or protect their hearts and suggest they practice for a while, do it next year, maybe sing something else ANYTHING to stop what you feel will be an embarrassing situation that could follow them for years. Because we all have those pivotal moments from our own school experiences that shape who we become. Do I really want this to be his? Am I ready for this?
And then it clicked. This is not about me. This is about him. I can’t protect him all the time. He is his own kid. He will be inundated with choices his whole life so why should I jump in and save him from a possible embarrassing situation when it could turn out amazing. Or not. But he will learn so much from it.
So it happened. He got up in front of the whole school while I held my breath. And he did great.
He will not be the next child star by any means but watching him up there sing about his favourite Pokemon and hearing the kids clap and cheer after made my Mom heart so happy. And his face when he came running over to me after the show was done was worth all the uncertainty I felt. Because it was me and only me that was feeling that. He was fine the whole time!
I think my kid’s special talent is having so much self confidence that nothing will stop him from doing exactly what he wants to do and I am OK with that.
Deanne Ferguson is the owner of Box Social Event Planning. When she is not planning fun, family, friendly events she is finding the yummiest food for the Edmonton Home and Garden Show Food Stage. She loves her #CocktailMonday dates with her husband and chasing around her two boys. You can find her at @DeanneFerguson on Instagram and @BoxSocialYEG on Twitter.