“I signed up for the talent show.”
“Oh, that’s great. Are you going to play the piano?”
“No.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to give basketball tips.”
“Uhhhh…..”
“And maybe demonstrate some dribbling skills.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to play the piano?”
“Mom, I’m way better at basketball than I am at piano.”
“Are you sure this is a good idea? I mean, I think talent shows are usually people performing something like a song or dance or magic trick.”
“Mom, Mrs. Kimble said it was okay. She said last year a kid was really good at soccer and so he showed everyone how he could kick the ball and stuff.”
“I just think that you have some really great songs on the piano, and the basketball stuff is kind of…..”
“Mom, I already signed up to do ‘basketball tips’. I can’t change it.”
“Oh, I bet we could change it.”
“I want to give basketball tips.”
“What exactly are you going to say?”
“First I’m going to explain the 6 different types of fouls, then I’ll talk about the right way to shoot. Maybe I’ll demonstrate that. The right way to shoot has a name, it’s called, ‘hand in the cookie jar’. Then after that, I might show a little dribbling, and then……..”
Gulp.
Now I know how my mom felt the first time I did my hair by myself in second grade.
at least he isn’t singing “Killing Me Softly” acappella. Then again, when the weird kid in About a Boy did that Hugh Grant came on stage with a guitar and then the whole school loved him and the weird kid got a normal haircut and stopped wearing the rainbow sweater and became cool. Maybe John Stockton will show up to make Christian the coolest kid in school after a few excrutiatingly painful moments……… if he does, please tell me about it.
I say, go, Christian! You absolutely DO know more about BB that any of your second grade peers! And I hear you’re pretty good at the neighborhood games. You can hold your own talking BB with your 26 year old uncle, who honestly seemed to value your opinions about various players and who to put your money on in the play-offs. I found the conversation very – I was going to say enlightening, but the light refracted off of my brain w/o even staying lit for a second. I just have no connection to BB at all. But I am going to do my darnedest to be in the audience for the talent show. And I’ll even pay attention and learn something. I’m sure I won’t be alone. This will be one of the highlights of the show.
I think that’s great. That’ll help re-defined what people call ‘talent’. It took Christian just as long to learn how to play basketball correctly as it did other things we might consider a talent.
Other than that, it’ll be a great opportunity to address any public speaking fears he might have. Getting in front of groups can be great for the self-esteem!