Le Dance

Yesterday the my two oldest children performed in their first ever dance recital. It was a joyous occasion, marked by several servings of ice cream and lots of sequins.

I won't lie: I totally cried when my kids came out. Especially Lucy. She had been having a lot of trouble in dance class, and every time they would rehearse their routine she would start wailing in the middle of it. Because us parents aren't allowed in the studio until the end of class, I could never really figure out why she would freak out. Lucy, being my darling, overly dramatic child, doesn't do anything halfway, including throw a fit. Her screams during the routine were so loud and intense that the other children would get startled and stop dancing. Last week, after enduring almost two months of mid-dance tantrums, the owner/instructor and I talked, and decided that if Lucy couldn't get it together by the dress rehearsal, she wouldn't dance in the recital. It wasn't fair for the other kids or their families.

Luckily, after being permitted to observe her, I discovered the issue. At one point during the dance the kids are sitting and they're supposed to flutter kick their feet. Lucy, however, was pounding her heels into the wooden floor, and then crying when it hurt. Then when the rest of the class would continue dancing without her, she would get even more upset and the screaming would begin.

It took several days of working with her at home, but she made it through the dress rehearsal without piercing any eardrums!

Which means that the next day, she got to perform for reals!

She's all the way on the end. I was so proud of her (and Sam, too) that I couldn't help but weep a little. She's growing up so fast that I occasionally forget that she's only three. She's had some tough times recently, but yesterday was a good day.

Yesterday was a really good day.