Stage Fright

Avery had his first Christmas performance yesterday at his preschool. I was very shocked because he got really scared and started crying and buried his head in his lap with his hands over his eyes as soon as he got to the stage. I was shocked, because this was atypical of my son's personality. He is usually the outgoing one who I would have expected to sing all of the songs that he's been singing for us in the car for weeks. His buddy, Brenden, on the other hand, was putting on a show and so we have great video of him acting silly while Avery came and sat in my lap. Brian encouraged me to take him back up on stage and sit with him, so I did, but I don't think he ever did sing a single word. It broke my heart b/c it was one of those moments that was almost over before my brain had time to figure out what I should do to make things better. I wanted Avery to know that his daddy and I were still proud of him (along with the whole pew of grandparents who were there to watch!) no matter what he did, but I wanted to encourage him to try at the same time without seeming too pushy. I guess I was just caught off guard and I didn't know how to fix the situation. My mom told me that I was shy just like that when I was his age (although I never had a chance to even talk or have an opinion with my sister being my "boss") and that is why she put me in dance... to help improve my self-confidence. Well... don't worry- I'm not going to put Avery in dance! Ha! But, come to think of it, he did act the same way, kinda, when it came to soccer. He would be all about it at home with us and then become so intimidated when the other kids were around at practice and especially the games. I know things will get better as he gets older, but I just wish I could protect him from feeling so scared and give him the confidence he needs in times like these. The (not really!) funny thing is that when we went to his classroom after the performance for his party, he started singing. Go figure. I think I'll try to record him singing so I can post how precious he is, even if
Broadway won't be recruiting him anytime soon! :)