I'm a little nervous

Uno is set to give her very first talk in Primary tomorrow. She's been dying to use the microphone, so last week (her first week of Primary, by the way) when they asked for volunteers she rather insistently asked to be the one.

She's going to tell a story from the Book of Mormon, the brother of Jared asking God to touch some stones to give light to their boats. It's supposed to go something like this:

The brother of Jared needed light for his boat, but he didn't know what to do. He prayed to Heavenly Father and said, "Heavenly Father, please help us get light for our boat." Heavenly Father told him to think of an idea and ask again. So he thought about it like this: "Hmmmmmm." And then he had an idea. He prayed again. "Heavenly Father, I know that if you touch these rocks with your finger, they will get bright and shiny and we will have light for our boat." Because he had faith, Heavenly Father touched the rocks with His finger and their boat wasn't dark. We should have faith, too. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Plus she has a visual aide: Two rocks that we spray painted first with chrome and then with a light coat of pearlescent glitter paint.

We've been practicing often these last two days. Sometimes she gets the story more or less right. More often, though, it comes out something like this:

Once upon a time the villagers lived in a cave with dark boats so Jesus came and He liked rocks. And He said, "Hmmmmmm." And Jesus said a prayer about rocks with His finger [holds up visual aide]. Oh, and Jesus-- I mean, the villagers were in their cave with a space ship [makes space ship noise] so they could fight the bad guys. Kapow! Hiya! And all the bad guys drove away in their cars because they were scared about the rocks from Jesus. The end.

She is rambly and random and hilarious and super confident. Which makes me nervous. I would love for her to tell a comprehensible version of the story, because it will be adorable if she does. I don't really mind her telling a rambly version (well maybe I sort of do), because she's a kid and this is her first try. But I worry that -- whatever happens -- people will laugh and her confidence will be shattered. I don't think anyone, even the older kids, would be mean-spirited about it, but still. Some things are simply too cute / silly / odd (take your pick) for polite smiles!

I was an awkward, insecure kid. I'm an insecure mom in a lot of ways. Uno is not like me -- she is social and self-assured and endlessly outgoing. But these qualities of hers have never really been tested. She spends her days with me and her sister; she doesn't go to preschool or dance class or on play dates. Church is her only social outlet, and this will be her first "performance" in that or any other venue. I want her to be well received. I worry that if she's not, it will hurt her, or change those great qualities of hers that are so different from any of mine.

I'm nervous, nervous, nervous. I don't want her to be -- and I hope she doesn't sense that I am -- but geez, I wish this were over already.


~RCH~