Concert | Lessons from my daughter

March 2012

Emily is 13 years old and performed at the school coffee house.

By performed I mean she signed-up for it, practiced with her music teacher and the night of the coffee house she stood in front of the crowd and did her thing!

I’ve been holding on to this video for 4 years.

I’m ready to show you!

But before you watch it you should know.

When Emily signed-up, I was proud of her and scared. I called her school and her music teacher said it would be fine… So I went with it.

Over the years, I’ve gone with it so many times.

Regardless of my feelings, if Emily wanted to try something, I said ok.

So there I was… sitting in a school’s gymnasium, with Jon, his mom, Barb & Greg and Lorraine & her family.

I was nervous while Emily was completely comfortable.

When her turn arrived, I started filming and asked the universe to keep an eye on my girl and make the crowd show love for Emily regardless of how it went.

In the video, you see Emily get ready and dedicate her song to her friend Chelsea and start singing. Than you see her realize she’s on stage and get the giggles 😊 once the giggles are under control, you can hear her sing better… Meanwhile, you can hear me sing 😳 as if I could help her get through it 😂 I’m also crying at the same time…

You’ll see or rather you’ll hear!

The crowd clapped and cheered for her but I was the loudest.

The other students there high fived her as she walked back to our table.

To this day, I still have people who were there talk to me about it.

Emily touched many people that night.

Okay…. enough chatting, go watch her and come back to tell me what you think.

Coffee House

Butterfly fly away by Miley Cyrus

You tuck me in,
Turn out the light
Kept me safe and sound at night
Little girls depend on things like that

Brushed my teeth and combed my hair
Had to drive me everywhere
You were always there when I looked back

You had to do it all alone
Make a living, make a home
Must have been as hard as it could be

And when I couldn’t sleep at night
Scared things wouldn’t turn out right
You would hold my hand and sing to me

Caterpillar in the tree, how you wonder who you’ll be
Can’t go far but you can always dream
Wish you may and wish you might
Don’t you worry hold on tight.
I promise you there will come a day
Butterfly Fly Away
Butterfly Fly Away (butterfly fly away

Find more about about Cri du Chat syndrome at 5p- Society

Emily has a her own page in the family stories , you can find it here: Emily

If you want short updates and timely pictures of the little things that are happening in our life, please like and follow Lessons from my daughter‘s page on Facebook.

You can also find me on Twitter at @plebrass

I am on Pinterest too… one day I will figure out what to do there other than finding cool recipes but meanwhile, you can find me here: Lessons from my Daughter

Just like the Lego song….

I don’t write enough, I know but tonight I am compelled to tell you things…

I want to tell you about milestones!

How in the last year, Emily has learned:

1. to feed the dogs…. Not too much or too little… Just enough food and water. No messy puddles around their bowls, just perfect.

2. to help empty the dishwasher.

3. to move the laundry from the washer to the dryer.

4. to make her bed and keep her room clean.

5. to fold socks, undies and face cloths.

6. to put her clothes away, all but the ones on hangers.

7. To cheer

8. to sail
9. to set the water temperature when she takes her shower.

And many more little things…

Many…

This is part of why everything is awesome.

What else?

This morning, I reminded Emily that we have box seat tickets to see the Sound of Music over the weekend. I wanted her to decide who we should invite.

For the first time ever, she picked a friend.

A friend!!! This is huge, Emily struggles with social interactions, she tries but it’s not easy and today she asked me to invite a specific friend.

I did and they said yes so this will be a mothers and daughters outing.

I’m so happy about this!

On top of that…. On Monday this week, Emily started her coop program at school. 5 mornings a week, she will work at one of our local Superstore learning new skills.

Yesterday was a snow day.

Today was her second day and I turned into that mom… The one who shows-up at her kid’s work and take a picture!

Look at her, all grown-up!
She wanted to hug me when I showed-up but I reminded Emily that she was at work and had to act professional. So she did and that made me so proud.

So far, she loves it!

Wait…. There’s one more thing!

Earlier this month, I received a friend request from a mom of a little boy who has Cri du chat syndrome. I have known about her and her family for some time now due to a common friend. I didn’t reach out to her, I gave her space and made myself available. She sent me a note on Feb 4th saying “your words gave me light in a time of darkness and fears”. She’s been reading my blog!

I’m humbled!

So… 2 weeks later, I received a private Facebook message from another mom. Her baby girl is 10 months old and has Cri du chat syndrome too. In a nutshell, she thanked me for my blog. For giving her a positive story and inspiring her to learn about Cri du chat. Something about how I look at the bright side of life. I had tears in my eyes when I read her message and more tears when I read it out loud to my husband.

Those moms are why I write!

So tonight, I’m grateful for life.

Everything is awesome!

If you want short updates and timely pictures of the little things that are happening in our life, please like Lessons From My Daughter page on Facebook!