In fact, in the beginning, I was just as excited as my mother, maybe even more so. I pictured this prodigy part of meas many different images, trying each one on for size. I was a dainty ballerina girl standing by the curtain, waiting to hear the right music that would send me floating on my tiptoes. I was like the Christ child lifted out of the straw manger, crying with holy indignity. I was Cinderella stepping from her pumpkin carriage with sparkly cartoon music filling the air. In all of my imaginings, I was filled with a sense that I would soon become perfect. My mother and father would adore me. I would be beyond reproach. I would never feel the need to sulk for anything. At first, the narrator feels a(n)motivation to become a prodigy to earn her parent's.
extrinsic approval
intrinsic ... affection
Direct... approval
indirect affection