As I watch my daughter dance

 Eden’s shy.  She rarely leaves me, even to go to a friend’s house to play.  All her friends graciously oblige to playing at our house. 

Eden has many reflections of me in her little life; we both have a love of art, babies and Jesus.  Her room is a Barbie shrine and yes, she inherited that from me too.  When I watch Eden play or interact with her brothers, I marvel at her beautiful personality.  Like a little angel, she’s gentle, soft spoken and smart.  When I was a little girl, I was self-conscious and didn’t feel like I fit in, but Eden seems to have so much figured out.  She did not inherit that from me.

Eden is shy, but she is not without opinion.  Most days, as long as she’s within earshot distance from me, she gets along just fine, but then she started dance.

When dance class is called Princess Camp, you think your girlie-girl daughter who literally sleeps on a sheet of Disney princesses will love it, right?  Nope.  On the first day of class she wrapped herself around me and in a ball of tears, we politely excused ourselves.

I’m not sure what changed since that Princess Camp debacle, but with a little encouragement Eden decided to give dance another try.  I think her decision had something to do with make up, glitter and twirls.

As I walked her backstage the day of her first recital, again her tears came for a visit, but she was able to push aside her shyness and smile on stage.  Her determination came alive and a little star was born.

This year, she was like a pro.  “I’m alright, Mom,” she said when I dropped her off backstage.  She was with her friends and having fun coloring before their big number.

It’s not that I miss my little shy girl (although I do), and believe me, there’s still plenty of moments I wonder if she’ll come out of her shell, but I hope I nurtured her through that phase.  I hope she knows its ok to be shy.  I know it’s a fine line between pushing my daughter to take dance or taking her out instead for frozen yogurt with all the toppings, but luckily, we have enough time for both.