Willem's been participating in VSSA for a year and a half now. Now that he's into the Twinkles it was time for him to give his first solo performance in front of the group. There were 5x as many people as had been in the audience at his other recitals and he was playing Twinkle. I was nervous for him. The weeks leading up to the recital we practiced and practiced.
Mom can be too serious at times during our home practices but Willem always brings a certain comic flare (aka can drive Mom crazy but in hindsight is quite hilarious).
One day he gave a recital to his stuffed animals and Audrey. He'd enter the room, take his bow and get into playing position and play his song. We did this over and over again for several days with his stuffed animal audience. On this particular day he walked in, got into playing position and then jumped/startled. I said, "Willem, what's wrong?" He said, "Mom, I saw Audrey and I though one of our dolls had become real."
Willem was the first one to perform and he handled it like a pro. He walked on stage and played in time with the piano, took his bow and sat down. He didn't make eye contact until he had sat back down in his chair. Afterwards we could tell he was proud of himself. We were sure to celebrate all his hard work and gave him lots of praise!
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