Rockin' the PTA Meeting

** WARNING **
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This post may contain statements that might be construed as bragging about my kid. Please discontinue reading this post if you are prone to nausea while reading bragging monologues about somebody else's kid.
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You've been warned. And I feel okay doing it, because I am convinced that whatever virtue this kid happens to have has absolutely NOTHING to do with me, my genetic material, or my parenting skills, which are gravely lacking. I know what you're thinking -- here's another mom-blogger spewing out some self deprecating statements, fishing for positive comments from the blogosphere. But I assure you, for every feel-good moment with my kids that I blog about, there are thousands of non-blog-worthy (more cringe-worthy) moments that I desperately try to put out of my mind and have no intention of sharing with the world. That's just the truth.

So, about the boy. He's been playing the piano for a little over a year now. Because of time constraints and money constraints, however, we haven't been able to continue his formal piano lessons since last summer. Between school and his gymnastics, the child hardly practices. And yet, when given the opportunity to play in front of an audience, this is what he does:

(The vibrating sound you hear around the :05 mark and :44 mark is my phone receiving a text message from my husband that he cannot get into the school. Now, I ask you, what kind of school holds a PTA meeting and then KEEPS ALL OF THE DOORS TO THE SCHOOL LOCKED?? Seriously.)

I'm not bragging about my son, the virtuoso, playing a perfect piano solo. He's no prodigy. There are a few mistakes and he even omits the most difficult part of this piece (and fairly seamlessly, in my opinion as both a mother and a pianist). But he keeps going and he doesn't melt over the mistakes. Which is impressive given his tendency toward perfectionism (which particular quality he DID inherit from me.)

What I really enjoy and admire about this boy is his complete (over) confidence and insouciant attitude about performing. The kid was not nervous. Just absolutely, categorically, quietly, excited. Can you imagine?

Jared, you rock!