Raise Your Voice
It may not show up in the pictures I post, but Diva Girl is a small kid. Tiny even. Half of the Grade Ones are bigger than she is, and even some of the Kindergarteners. Because she’s so little, it’s pretty much a given that in any grouping, she’ll be placed in the bottom row. But not this time. This time, she got to stand on the top riser. It wasn’t quite as good as getting to sing a solo, but it was still a pretty big deal to a kid resigned to life in Shrimp Row.
I ended up deciding not to be “That” parent. I didn’t talk to the the music teacher afterall. It was a difficult choice; nobody likes to see their child disappointed, and I really do think the teacher is wrong. But in the end, I didn’t see how Mommy rushing in to fix things would help Diva Girl learn to deal with the many injustices life will throw her way or to stand up for herself when it inevitably happens. So, instead of talking to the teacher myself, I encouraged Sabrina to speak for herself.
We spent a couple of days brainstorming what she should say, and then after she’d worked up her courage, Diva Gril went to the music taecher and asked her why some kids always get the good parts, no matter what. She didn’t really get a satisfactory answer, and she didn’t get a solo, but she did get the sense of accomplishment that comes from standing up for herself. And honestly, that makes me more proud than any solo in a Christmas concert ever could have.