Mother Goose Rocks

Hello there.

Today in my house it was a special day. My youngest child had his kindergarten, end of the year musical performance. Mother Goose Rocks. As the title suggested the children performed mother goose nursery rhymes to rock, blues and jazz music and added a little soft shoe to boot. As we were walking out the door, my 18 year-old daughter mentioned she had a music award assembly this evening. I was surprised to hear this because I hadn't gotten a letter from the school as I had in previous years. I said, "I'll be there." She mumbled, "You don't have to, it's not a big deal."

The whole day I pondered her statement. "...it's not a big deal." I thought back to when I was in high school. My dad came to everyone of my home softball games. He sat on the bench and watched and cheered. I sat on the bench too. Most of the games I was the B.W. (bench warmer). The only time the coach played me was when my dad showed up for the game. I sat on the bench until he walked down the field and took his place in the bleachers. And it never failed, the next inning, I was playing. That was a big deal.

When I was older, I took an adult tap dancing class. I had always wanted to tap dance. When I was going through my divorce, I decided to fulfill my desire and joined the class. There were me and three other "over 30 year-old" women trying to shuffle-step or buffalo hop. What fun we had. Then May came and we were forced to be in the recital. I wanted to dance, I didn't want to dance in front of people. But, I had no choice. So, I donned my gold sparkle pants and put on my black top had and tapped dance to "Tea for Two." And in the audience were my kids, my fiance, my Aunt Corky and my mom. Yup, it was a big deal.

Having someone supporting you makes a huge difference in how you see yourself and how you do your "shtick". Knowing that there is someone making an effort to sit in the audience or to read through your rough draft or to taste your new recipe makes doing your "whatever" all the more valuable. For me, it wasn't about how well I tapped or how great my dinner was it was about trying, achieving and being validated.

So, when my daughter told me it was her award night, I was there. It might not have felt like a big deal to her, but it sure was to me. I was a proud mama this morning watching my little red head son rock and roll to Jack Be Nimble and I was a proud mama this evening watching my beautiful daughter receive her music pin. It is important to support those special people in our lives.

I hope you have someone in your life that you can support, validate, and cheer for. To me, there's no such thing as "no big deal."

Gotta go,
Have hope,
Donna