It's no secret that I think Justice is pretty awesome. He is, and I sing his praises on a regular basis. He works REALLY hard at everything he sets out to do, and for that I am extremely proud. He is no quitter, and doesn't like to be told he can't do something. As a matter of fact, when someone says "I can't" in our house, he's the first one to say "We don't say can't in this house". So when he announced he would be entering the talent show and singing a song, I really just took a deep breath and said "OK". There was no point trying to talk him out of it, there was no point trying to tell him he wasn't up for the challenge. He's always up for the challenge. It doesn't matter what it is, he's always game. And I've given up trying to tell him he's not a fantastic singer, because he does not believe me. He thinks I'm just trying to hurt his feelings and hold him back from his "dream", when in reality I'm just trying to keep him from getting his feelings hurt.
I always wonder during the first week of American Idol when all the horrible singers get their feelings hurt why the heck their parents didn't tell them they weren't going to make it! I mean, c'mon Moms!!! But then again, maybe they do tell them and the kids don't listen? Like Justice? You may be thinking what a horrible parent I am at this point, but I promise I'm not. I have always been 100% honest with my kids about just about everything. Well, except maybe Santa and the Easter Bunny. You got me on that one. But my kids absolutely appreciate the fact that when they ask me an honest question that they are going to get an honest answer. Justice jokingly calls me "The Dream Crusher" on a routine basis, like when he is fantasizing about his professional soccer career or the many platinum records he's going to get when he's a famous singer/soccer player.
Me, joking: "How will you balance your soccer career and singing career?"
Justice, laughing: "Easy. I'll play for Los Angeles. I'll be right by Hollywood where I'll be singing."
Me: "Oh, great. Maybe you can even sing your own opening anthems and be the halftime show!"
Justice: "Oh, you're trying to be funny? Dream Crusher!"
Ah, yes. I am The Dream Crusher.
Justice decided he was going to sing a song by Bruno Mars called "When I Was Your Man". He ran through it a few times at home and it was horrible. I told him to pick a new song, there were too many spots out of his range. He said NO. I'm going to learn this one. Well, all right then. Good luck boy. He practiced for about three weeks, and it got a little better. I was really worried for him though. He told me there were 20 other contestants in the show, and only a couple of them were sixth graders.
We've all been to middle school. We all know how horrible kids can be starting at this age. So let's run through this checklist real quickly.
1. 6th grader. Check
2. Nerd. Check
3. Thinks he can sing but it doesn't sound so good. Check
4. Guts to perform said song in front of the entire middle school. Check.
6. New sweater vest for the performance. Check. Yes, sweater vest. See number 2.
OK, so we have everything we need for a complete tragic disaster! Yippee. I just kept seeing all the 8th graders booing him and his feelings getting REALLY hurt. But you know, sometimes as a parent you just have to let things run their course. And so that's what I did. I helped him with that song 1,000 times leading up to the show. I was SICK for him the morning of the talent show. I mean, SICK. My stomach was in knots. I just didn't want anyone to hurt his feelings. I wasn't sure how he would take it, I didn't know if it would kill ALL of his confidence for everything. The kids in our neighborhood are rough, no doubt about that. Turns out I wasn't the only parent worried about that, and that in itself made me feel a lot better.
He was number 7 in the lineup, and after hearing the first two kids, I was no longer sick. The knot in my stomach was nearly gone. Turns out the middle school talent show is NOT American Idol, and the expectations are much lower.
It also turns out that the students like Justice. Nerd and all. The chicks DIG him. Sweater-vest, out of key voice and all. And they REALLY enjoyed his song. There was no booing, no mean kids. Everybody loved him. And,
HE WON THIRD PLACE!
So then I felt BAD. I had clearly been too hard on him. And too much of a worrier. I learned a whole bunch of valuable lessons during this whole process.
1. Talent Show's are supposed to be FUN.
2. I am WAY too hard on Justice and his vocal abilities.
3. I am WAY too worried about him getting his feelings hurt.
4. Justice has more confidence and guts at age 11 than I had at age 30.
5. I need to CHILL. I can't protect his feelings forever.
6. You don't have to sing like a superstar to be entertaining.
And last, but not least, Justice is a pretty awesome kid. Not that I didn't know that already, but this was a very good reminder that I don't always have to be The Dream Crusher.
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