Who is that Girl?

Many of you know that my daughter is rather shy.  Has been since she was little.  In fact, for years, getting her to go to her preschool class or her class at church was very difficult.  She would cling to my leg and refuse to let me leave for at least the first 5 - 10 minutes of the class.

So what's a mom to do?  Find things for her to do that take her out of that comfort zone and help her to learn that other people won't bite.  We started off a few years ago with a lego-based homeschool class where the students gave a presentation each class.  Being who she is, she would cling to my leg and speak very softly at first, but as she got to know the people in the class she would stand straighter and speak louder.  For that class I was always in the room so she knew she had me there if she needed.

This year she is taking 3 homeschool classes and I am not able to go to many of them. Hubby is in the building helping with our son's class, so she knows if there's a big problem she can get him, but she doesn't have someone there to hide behind now (and she's okay with it).

But the thing that I think has helped her the most so far is joining Girl Scouts.  I was in girl scouts years ago and I remember earning the badges, but I don't remember the emphasis on confidence building.  Perhaps that's because it's rather subtle (to children), perhaps the Girl Scouts have changed over the years, or perhaps it has to do with the troop leader. 

Whatever the case, my daughter has made new friends (and rather quickly for her I might add).  She's also participated in three walkabouts (door-to-door selling of cookies) and you would NEVER know she was that shy little girl from just 3 years ago.

Don't get me wrong, she still has moments where she's shy, but boy is she coming out of her shell.  And this Mama is really happy to see what she's capable of.