Saturday night we went to Mrs. Curl after dinner.  One of our favorite summer treats. It was hot out and we expected it to be busy. We were correct.

What we didn’t anticipate was karaoke on the patio.  While we waited in the very long line, we heard what sounded like, I don’t know, a cat dying?  Faintly accompanied by “Let it Go” music in the background. While we ate our treats and watched kids sing a few songs, Theo decided that he wanted to “sing Star Wars.” What he meant was he wanted to sing “duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh” (etc) to the tune The Imperial March (Darth Vader’s Theme). The girl running the karaoke walked around asking for last requests and Theo perked up and said he wanted to sing Star Wars.  Ryan was shaking his head no, afraid that Theo would be embarrassed (or maybe embarrassing) and I shook my head yes. What’s the harm in it?  I figured, if he has the confidence to get up there, I’m not going to squash it.

I went to throw away our trash and when I turned back around, Theo was on stage — but wait.  What was that familiar tune once more?  Apparently at the last second, he asked the girl if he could sing “Frozen.”  So Let it Go played for the 14th time and he stood there smiling and holding a microphone. And not singing. But so proud of himself.

Halfway through, the girl squatted down on the stage with him and sung along. Theo did start singing and it was about the cutest thing.

I felt like he was on the stage of American Idol and just made it through to Hollywood.  I was just proud of his confidence and willingness to do something outside of the box.

That night, while I was snuggling with him at bedtime, we talked about all the fun things we had done that day.

Me:  What was the best part of the whoooole day?  Was it going to the splash pad? Our picnic at the park? Eating those tomatoes from the Farmer’s Market?  Or was it eating outside and telling stories at dinner time?  Maybe that steak and baked potato you liked so much?  Going for ice cream after dinner? Or was it throwing rocks in the creek after ice cream?

Theo:  Getting on the stage to sing was the best part of the whooooole day!

Me: Ohhh! Yes, that was fun, wasn’t it?! I am so proud of you for doing that, you know it?

Theo: Why, mama?

Me: Because it’s hard for people to do stuff like that sometimes.

Theo: Did you ever sing on a stage?

Me: No. Not by myself.

Theo: You should do it sometime because it’s really fun.

Me: Oh, honey…I don’t know.  I think I would be too shy!

Theo: It’s okay, mama. If you get scared, I will come stand beside you and help you.

And then my heart burst into 38 million tiny bits. I love him.

xo,
~C~