Bethany update

Bethany has been working very hard recently.
She did a solo as part of her Jazz dancing exams, and loved it, but is glad to have her Monday afternoons back now that the exam is over. 
Currently both "big girls" are preparing for Ballet exams.  When they are over Hannah will start lessons, because she is flat out copying Leila's lounge room rehearsal routines (move for move).  Sometimes at Dinner Hannah will refuse to come to the table, wind up a music box and treat us as a captive audience while we eat (she tells us we're in trouble if we talk or don't appreciate her dancing).
Back to Bethany:  Bethany is not naturally a very stretchy person, which causes her some grief at times, especially considering some of the rubber band girls in her class.  I tell her that she can blame her parents (and think in wonder at how different I am to Libby or Jeremy).   I'm also trying to get Beth to understand that her achievement in obtaining her current level of flexibility is something to be proud of.  Also, whilst she might not be the stretchiest girl in the class, she has the very best sense of rhythm and timing.  She can blame her parents for that too!
Beth gets extremely worn out.  She worries at times, and everything gets harder when she is overtired:  This reminds me about how I found her playing her DS in bed late at night 2 days before her exam.  I was not a happy mother!
When tired, little things seem much bigger, and then your mother ends up calling you "Calamity Jane" and reminding you that nobody died and that Christmas hasn't been canceled.  Truly tiny things are not terribly tragic.  But they don't seem tiny to Bethany.
I sometimes think about when I once saw Nanna Chick cry, whilst reprimanding herself and saying it was stupid to cry.  I wonder what she was told as a child, and I wonder about my beautiful Bethany and her many tears.
I don't want her to think that it is stupid to cry, but I don't want her to be devastated by little things either.  I want her to be expressive and healthy and in touch with the joys and the sorrows of life.  Lately I've tried to offer comfort more than criticism.  It seems that often a good hug or some calming time really does help.