The 10%

I think that parenting is about 90% suck and about 10% overwhelming pride and joy.  Somehow the 10% manages to make the 90% all worth while.

We have a lot of suck around here.  We do.  Absolutely.  Don't think that we don't.

But as a mom who spends very little time with other adults (and absolutely zero time bragging about her kids to other adults) sometimes I need to use the little ole blog to brag share.

First of all, let's take my daughter the violinist.  I'm pretty much ready to beat her with her bow for the lackadaisical attitude she has toward practice, especially a month before we our embarking on our concert tour of Italy and two weeks before her audition for a concert orchestra.  (That's part of the 90%.)

BUT, yesterday after a concert at school, the mother of one of her classmates called just to tell me that she had been moved to tears by my daughter's performance.  (That's part of the 10%)

Now let's look at my son.  The kid was once in the 1st percentile for speech.  The very lowest percentile possible.  Very few people could even understand him and I had to translate for him all the time.  Plus, many of his speech problems were physical and would take much therapy to overcome.  (That's part of the 90%)

BUT, four years later, the kid is absolutely known for his speaking.  He's freaking won awards.  He's still not in the 90th percentile, he has to concentrate and work at almost every words he says.  But these last few months he's been making quite a name or himself.

1)  He totally stole the show in the Wizard of Oz.
2)  He won the storytelling competition for his school.
3)  So he got to go on to the regional forensics competition and help his school win second place.
4)  He was selected to read a poem he wrote at Writer's Day at school which is apparently a huge honor that I didn't even know existed.
5)  Just today he gave an election speech for the Student Council executive board and stole the show again.

I don't know where he gets it from.  His parents are the shyest people you could ever meet, but he thrives on public speaking.  But to have him excel at something we despaired of him ever being able to do at all is overwhelming to me.  (That's part of the 10%.)

I'm not one to give standing ovations when they are not deserved.  I am not one to let my kids overhear me bragging about them, although that is supposed to be the best confidence builder you can give them.  I'm just not comfortable with that.  I am more likely to criticize and tell them when they are not measuring up to our high expectations.  So I have no idea where they get their confidence from.

But I have a feeling that it might be because when we praise them, they know it really means something.

And after my son gave his speech today, he came up and asked me how he did.

I wrapped my arms around him and said, "Awesome, buddy."  (That's the 10%)