Shy No More

There was a time...not terribly long ago...that we considered Isaac to be a bit on the timid side. He was slow to warm up to new settings, hesitated talking to people other than his immediate family members, and remained quite close to me in public places.

Those day....well, those days are long gone, my friend.

This morning we had a last minute change in plans, which landed us at a mall play place. This is not a mall we frequent often nor did we have any friends in tow with us. These factors didn't seem to phase Isaac.

He approached the other three children in the play area separately and said, "Hi! My name is Isaac." I have been working on this little skill with him, because preschoolers tend to approach other preschoolers and simply participate in a stare-off. Both know they want to play, but neither know how to make that happen. Besides I used to teach social skills as a living, so my poor children are subject to listen to me ramble on and on about the importance of being a respectable citizen of their community.

I was tickled that Isaac was comfortable enough, and friendly enough, to introduce himself to the other children. Their lack of reciprocation with an introduction confused Isaac at first, but he continued to run, jump, and act in that crazed manner two year olds do when presented with an open area of play equipment.

A while later, I heard Isaac running around singing the ABC's. He was enjoying the acoustics of the mall and was really belting out the song. After a solid five rounds of singing the alphabet, I heard his voice holler out:

"Hey everybody, let's sing the ABC song."

For such a little boy, he can get the people's attention. The majority of the children in the play area stopped to look at Isaac as he began to sing another round of the ABC's.

Then the most magical thing happened...a handful started to sing along.

Yes, my child started a group sing-a-long in a public place.

I have never been so proud.