Violin Recital and Stage Fright

Tuesday began quite differently then most days at our house. JA woke up early to go out hunting, and all three kids slept in till 9:00. So, I enjoyed relaxing in bed until I heard the typical refrain of "good moning" from Lydia. We ate breakfast, did some laundry, and then I sat down with Kara to begin practicing her violin. She was very excited about her recital that evening, and she did very well playing her violin.
By the time lunch was over, I knew we were in trouble. Kara had a violin lesson scheduled for 4:00. By two o'clock she was tripping over things and wailing over the littlest things -- my little girl was TIRED!!! At three o'clock I called and canceled her violin lesson -- it was obvious that without a nap she would have a terrible lesson and an even worse recital. I laid her down in Andy's crib because I didn't want Lydia to wake her up.

Two hours later I finally let her get up -- a nap was never taken. I was praying that the two hour rest time may have helped to re-energize her. We ate supper, and began getting ready for the recital. She was very excited about it, but I couldn't help be worried that she would get up there and refuse to perform (even though she had a practice performance at church on Sunday and she did well then).

At 6:20 we headed out to the recital. Kara was very excited when we got there and she ran right up to Miss Abigayle to give her a present (which I had intended to wait on, but you can't hardly stop a three year old who was already at the front of the church before I even stepped in the doors).
Well, Kara was the first one to play since she was the youngest and least experienced, and she was the only violin student (the rest were piano students). She performed exactly how I thought she would -- She stood up on the platform, violin in hand and smiled, and smiled, and smiled, and swayed, and refused to sing her Rest Position song. She was so unsure of herself she couldn't even get her violin into rest position or playing position correctly (two things she has been able to do very well for about two months). She finally focused on what she was to be doing and did her finger position on the E string, and I think she was a bit disappointed when Miss Abigayle stopped her from playing her finger positions on the other strings.

Below are the videos of the recital. After the recital JA and I gave her a present -- A kitty cat ornament with a bell on it's collar--engraved to remind her of her first recital. I'm already starting to pray that she will be more cooperative and less distracted at her spring recital.