calming down

Sometimes I get overwhelmed with the responsibility I feel to make the right decisions for Z. Last night after talking to Z's teacher I was feeling kind of stressed in that regard.

But this evening I had more time to think about some things her teacher said and also talk to a mom with a focused kid and I have more confidence in what I am doing.

Last night Z's piano teacher said that a "super talented" kid would want to spend hours at the piano. We both agreed that Z does not want to do that.

Then today I was talking to a woman who's daughter is an ice skater. She skates 3 -4 hours everyday. The girl is 12 and has been skating seriously since she was 9 and she started skating at 5. I asked the mom how she felt about letting her daughter make the choice to practice so much and to focus on this one thing and she said "My daughter never really wanted to do anything except skate. So it wasn't a hard decision. That is all she really wanted to do."

Some kids are like that.

Z does not have just one thing she loves. She has so many things she likes (reading, science, foreign languages, gymnastics) but I think the thing she does most is sing and make up stories that turn into songs.

Sometimes I can image that she will be a singer/songwriter when she grows up (or earlier) but it is not all she wants to do. She has a lot of things that interest and inspire her.

It is interesting too that singing is not something I do with Z. I don't have a class for it. The only thing I do is make sure she has enough down time every day so she can make up her songs. Actually I also listen to them and record them and sometimes transcribe them. And, oh yeah, I also help her get ready for talent shows and get her voice lessons.

But there is nothing I can teach her at this point. All I can do is protect and encourage.