The Hailey Herald

The Hailey Herald

Friday, October 4, 2013

Music class & exceeding expectations (31 for 21)

Today, Hailey and I had a new adventure.  I signed her up for 2 months of Kindermusik.  It meets at a local church and I think there were 9 or 10 other little kids.  There is always uncertainty taking a two year old to any new environment.  With Hailey, sometimes, there is an added layer of uncertainty.  I was extremely nervous about how everything would go, how she would act, etc.  I, also, worry when Hailey is the only atypical child (yes, I know....it's not like she was a minnow in a sea of sharks).  I know I shouldn't care, but I worry about people staring and I worry about judgements.

My anxiety increased when we were running late because I couldn't find the church.  Luckily, we weren't the only ones running late.  We all sat in a circle and started singing.  Hailey did great by sitting in my lap and did the hand motions with the Miss Jackie.  She took an instrument from the basket, played it, and returned it to the basket when we were finished with it.  She sat on the blanket with the other children during a story (except the one time when she got up and started patting the other kids on the head trying to start a game of duck-duck-goose).  She repeated children's names and some of the words to the songs.  I did sit on edge praying she wouldn't pull someone's hair, throw an instrument, or grab someone's face.  Thank goodness none of those things happened.  Hailey has a love for music and a love for people.  It seemed to be the perfect combination.  She did wander a little during a song when we were walking in a circle.  She had to walk by each child and adult, make sure she was seen and say Hi.  I was so happy and proud of Hailey that I almost cried walking out of there.  I hope next week goes as well.

Were my expectations too low?  Do I place too much thought into what others think?  Why do I care?  I know my daughter and love her and it should be all that matters, but for some reason I do care.  I want others to see the beauty in Hailey.  Today, Hailey showed it all by herself.

She was quite happy with her shoes :-)

Lunch date with my girl.

4 comments:

  1. Your concerns were totally reasonable based on what you know of her. And she is 2, so there is some major unpredictability there too. I just had this exact experience this week, and I worried that she wouldn't understand some of the more complex instructions. And she did fine too. Sometimes it's hard to push out of your comfort zone for your child

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    1. Being a parent, I am so amazed at how many times, it is just my comfort zone, not my child's! They are their own person and it is so hard to remember to keep my fears to myself because theirs may not be the same

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  2. Good for Hailey, so awesome that she did so well! The first time I took Russell to a Head Start program last year I worried about all these exact same things. But I was impressed with how well he did, and how good he listened and followed instructions. I think given the chance our kids will blow our expectations out of the water every single time :)

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    1. I hate that I always underestimate her. Is it just human nature or just our mother instincts?

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