A Mothers Pride !

Kirsten my youngest daughter has always amazed me.
At the age of two she would sit at the table with Cassie and Geoff while they did their homework and copy them. She could write her own name and numbers to 10 before she was 3, She could also recite the alphabet count to 100, she knew her full name mine as well as her fathers address and phone number. She knew songs and could read several words. To me this was normal, she just picked it up from her brother and sister doing their homework and I didnt see it as anything special.

I put her into kindergarten when she turned 3 to socialise with children her own age as she had not had any interaction with her age group and I wanted her socially ready for school.

This did not work lol..She spent the time at the fence during lunch breaks talking to the older children in the "big school" and ignored her own age group entirely. When I asked her she told me they were just baby's. However I persisted and she stayed there until she turned 5 and was old enough for "big school".

As all the children in her group went up to "big School" with her she had by now made friends and was socialising with a little, a whole 2 friends, but I felt it better than none.

I struck gold with the teacher Kirsten got in her first year of school. She is the same age as me and she believed in the old fashioned way of teaching.Leran to sound out words none of the flash card learning, learning to spell the words correctly and basic number work, addition and times tables.

Quite a few of the parents complained as she also set homework for them. The parents felt this was way too hard for the first year of school and wanted her to conform with the other teachers, no homework and spend the day doing artwork etc but she was persistant and refused to conform.

Kirstens first day of school bought her trotting home with her first lot of homework, she proudly sat at the table with her brother and sister and completed it. I guess she finally felt like a big girl and a part of it all.

Now getting the older 2 to do their homework was like trying to get blood from a stone and I assumed Kirsten would get bored with it as quickly as they did and it would be a nightly struggle.
This didnt happen, every night she trotted in , climbed onto her chair and completed her homework.

So I decided to reward her and bought her her own desk for her bedroom so she could do her work in peace.
Her brother and sister sat at the dining table under my watchful eyes and Kirsten would trot into her room and a short while lately proudly walk out with her homework completed in hand and ready for me to sign.

End of year and the students were given their classes for the following year, Kirsten luckily had the same teacher. By the end of her second year at "big School" She could reacite her times tables 1 through to 12, she could add and subtract and was reading fourth grade readers.
I never had a problem with her getting up and going to school, in fact when she was sick it was a fight to keep her home.
She decided that she wanted an after school activity, so she started ballet lessons.
Within a year I was paying for costumes and heavily involved in the ballet with her. Many recitals and sleepless nights later she decided she had enough and wanted to take on a musical instrument.

By the time she decided to take on a musical instrument Kirsten was in grade 3 and as our schools have 4 terms she was bringing home 4 report cards a year. Each one I have framed in the hallway. She never bought home a report card that didn't have straight A's.

I have Cassie and Geoffs report cards framed as well, they dont all have straight A's but they all are within a normal range.

The school ran a music group so I went over with her to see what would be best suited to her to learn to play. Expecting maybe piano or possibly guitar. I didnt know that at this stage Kirsten had herself sat with the music teacher and told her what she wanted to learn and had been assessed for it. This was my first experience with how independant a young girl she was and is.
As a mother this is hard to handle an 8 year old organising her onw study and paths.
She didnt just choose piano or guitar she chose an instrument I absolutely hated the sound of "the violin" but Kirsten loved it so I agreed even though I was cursing under my breath.

I spoke to her now music teacher who assured me that she felt Kirsten would do extremly well and the screaching cat sound wouldn't bother me. Not convinced but I paid the fees for the year anyway and hired the violin and left Kirsten there happily taking her first music lesson.

That evening she excitedly came home, did her homework and set about her music homework.
Watching her set up I was preparing for the worst.
She pulled the violin out and began to play Mary Had A Little Lamb. It wasnt perfect, it screached occasionally but it was bearable and I was surprised.
Over the next few weeks the screach stopped completely and a phone call from her music teacher requesting I visit the school.

So off I trott again wondering what was wrong. When I arrived Kirsten was waiting excited and out of breath, led me to the music teacher where I was told they had a music assessor coming in to listen to Kirsten play. She had advanced so quickly they wanted to see the best way to go about teaching her.

Two weeks later, the asessment complete Kirsten was put up a grade in her music. She now practices for 3 hours every night without fail. He music teacher asked her to take 2 days a week and not play but Kirsten couldn't do that. It was like she was born with the violin attached. So the following school holidays I bought her her own full size violin.

Kirsten practiced, played solo for all the school functions and just kept getting better and better.

In between this she worked with her horses every morning and night. Getting up at 4am some mornings to ride them on the beach as well as watching Greg and I go through a divorce and struggle our way back to a friendship again.

Then came time to pick a High School for her. whenI sat her down to discuss what subjects she would like to do and which high would she prefer to attend she informed me that she had already decided and applied for anaaudition to be accepted into a music programme..Little Miss independant struck again.

I often tell her she has from the time she was born cheated me out of the right to argue with her over whats best.

Anyway she auditioned and passed with flying colours. 1st year of high school was pretty rough on her. She had 9 normal subjects to attend and 10 extra music lessons plus band practice, choir practice and she was still working with her horses before and after school.
By the time she got to year 9 she had worked out a routine for herself and was working well in school again and managed juggling everything about.
A letter from the high school arrived and I opened it wondering what had gone wrong. I always be expected a bubble burst with her.
It was an invitation for Kirsten to attend a gifted and talented childrens camp. The school was given 8 places and had to select the 8 children from years 8 through to 12 who would be gifted enough to attend. So off she went for a week with university lecturers. Now this camp was spent mostly attending lectures as if they were in university. Something that as a teenager I would have found completely boring.
Kirsten loved it. She made new friends and said she would love to attend again if selected. She was and has been each years since. There are 900 students in her school and each year they take in about 150 new students into first year as well as any children who have immigrated to Australia for the english classes so for her to consistantly maintain a level that keeps her above them academically each year is quite an acheivement.

Kirstens year 9 also made me realise just how different she is to her fellow students as well as to most teenage girls when the School Principle asked her and one of her friends to be the Models for the school uniform. As Kirsten is a stickler for wearing her uniform exactly as the school requires it to be worn. skirt 1 inch below the knee etc ( I used to walk out the house when I was in school, sit at the nearest bus stop and use safety pins to hem my skirt up for the day, IF I bothered to wear the uniform). So as you enter the foyer of the Schools office your confronted by a poster of Kirsten and a male student proudly modelling the School uniform. Adam Ants song Goody Two Shoes comes to mind about now.

Kirsten is heading into year 12 next year which should be her final year of high. However she come home from school and informed me that she deliberately failed one subject, Maths so she can do year 13. When I asked why this is what she told me.

Mum I have been asked to audition for the Melbourne Symphony Youth Orchestra, I have the horses to with riding lessons each day and I have been asked by my Karate instructor to take on extra lessons so they can train me up to instructor level and I am taking classes at T.A.F.E (Technical and further Education) for horse dentistry I need the extra year to get my certificates.

So off she went to audition for the Orchestra. Her music teacher was the one who nominated her for the audition. At the time of his nomination they had already had a round of auditions go through and it had been taken down to 200 eager young violinist's, she got into the next round and did her second audition. I was expecting her to be dissapointed coming in late and missing the first audition disadvantaged her, but she seemed happy with her performance. Then we just waited for the letter.

It arrived the day she was having her braces put on. She refused to come home and open it insisting onme reading the letter then calling her to tell her yes or no. So she went to her grandparents and waited. I was nervous and truly expected to have to give her bad news. But I opened the letter and in bold print it just simply said congratulations and welcome you have passed your auditions your first rehearsel is in January.

So now my daughter haspaved her way to a musical career with several other avenues she can take if it doesnt all work out the way she hopes, all without my help just an ear and a shoulder every now and then to lean on. From the time she started school she made her own choices, researched her options and bought the final idea to me for approval, she even completed all the paperwork so all I had to do was read and sign, none of her choices that she made gave were unacceptable in anyway and she has paved her own way to becomming a very dependant young adult. I sometimes feel all I have done for her is give birth. She has basically bought herself up.
But I am so incredibly proud of her, of her acheivements and her goals in life and the acheivements I know she is going to make.
To have your child accepted into an orchestra that travels the world, plays in the Orchesta for people like Elton John and whoever else might be touring Australia that uses our orchestra's would make any mother smile from ear to ear with pride.

Now I sit back and wait for the next choice she wants to make and hope she stays making the right ones.