Wellnow. Confidence comes out of nowhere! It all depends on where you want to focus your ambition. And it sounds as if you can focus and excel! No wonder your kids are so awesome! They have an awesome MOM!!
Confidence comes from succeeding at something you thought you couldn’t do! Knowing that I have this tendency to not want to try something if I don’t think it will work, I can help the children through the “paralyzed” stage into achieving their goals, while remaining sympathetic.
Tom started the Reptile and Amphibian Study badge last summer (2007) and hadn’t made much progress on his remaining activities until DP said, “No computer use until it’s done!” Then we found that three of the activities took about 2 hours of Internet research each, and finished up with the presentation he gave on Friday. The next time he faces a situation like this, he’ll jump into it with more confidence.
The same thing happened with Anoreth’s college registration: we said she could have her computer back when she was enrolled for the fall semester, and it was done in about 2 weeks. The only think I had to do was take her paperwork over there to show she’s a high school graduate, and write a check for the tuition!