We would have never guessed

Yesterday was our ward's primary program. Through out the year, our then three year old Hannah had memorized her first 9 Articles of Faith. She had gotten up about 4 times during the primary sharing time to say one or another. The Primary Presidency decided because of her crazy memorization skills and the confidence that she showed each time, that Hannah should have two speaking parts to memorize. One of them being the very last stanza in the program. Hannah was so excited and she had both parts memorized very quickly. When they called all of the kids up to the stage, Hannah went too with a smile. But once up there, something happened. We aren't sure what it was, but Hannah began to get very nervous. I could tell something was wrong because she began to put her fingers in her mouth. Then her eyes and nose began to get red and I could tell she was trying not to cry. Finally during the first song, she couldn't hold it back any longer and began the uncontrollable sobbing. Seeing how distraught she was, I quickly walked up to the front side bench and had her come and sit with me to try to calm her down. When I asked her what was wrong she bumbled out, "They are all looking at me!" Yes, for the first time in her life, Hannah got stage fright. It was basically an anxiety attack. It lasted the entire program. I went up for her one liner in the middle "I am a child of God. I can be like Jesus by saying my prayer and loving others." She barely got it out and then we went right back to the bench together. As I was trying to prepare her for the end, she burst into tears and kept saying she just wanted to go home. I shook my head at the primary presidency, letting her know that there was no way Hannah could do the final part. Graciously, one of the older girls (thank you Molly!) got up and read Hannah's part for her. The funny part was later that day Hannah was upset that she didn't get to do her final part. Oh, well. Maybe next year sweetie!

Danielle, by the way did a great job. She say all of the songs and did her part very well. She said it really fast (like her mother) and raced back to her seat. I actually didn't get to see her singing very much, but Brent said she did great. It was such a nice program and I loved the arrangements of all of the songs. The primary program is always special to me, but this year it was exceptionally memorable. I love my girls and know that I we are teaching them the right things. They are growing up knowing that they are children of God and that they are special. It reminds me just how true this gospel is.