An exchange this past weekend when it became apparent that little lady would not be going to ballet class due to her fever.
"Mama, you can't forget to call my ballet teacher!"
Ok I will.
"No! You need to email her. That is easier."
Alright.
"Then she will text you back. That will be faster."
While last year little lady had her first dance recital, this weekend was the first dance recital on a huge stage, with hundreds in the audience.
There was a rehearsal, on a different stage, last week and it was a near disaster. The teacher used claps to cue the girls to their next dance step and a series of claps confused the 4- and 5-year-olds. Eight little girls ran off to gather their flowers.
Two little girls stood their ground in the swirl of pink and white toile that flew by them. And then flew back to return to their spots. My little lady and her dance partner, who came up to her shoulder, stood with their hands on their hips and calmly pointed their toes.
But, as the saying goes, a bad dress rehearsal means it will be a stunning performance. And it was.
At least I think so. It was a bit hard to watch through my tears.
Little lady had her 5th birthday party over the weekend. Preparing for this, surviving a big week at work and recovering from our family drive through the American South (complete with 14 hours of driving through 8 states on the final day) led to my lack of blogging last week.
Several months ago a colleague who is also a friend took me and my daughter to a belly dancing recital. My daughter never sucked her thumb nor had a regular object of her affection. She loves her belly button. When she goes to sleep she rubs her belly button. So for her to discover a dance dedicated to her favorite part of her body was a revelation. And the perfect birthday party.
My friend came in full costume and led belly dancing with the kids. It was fun, spirited and exciting. The girls all joined in. The boys played drums. Before they ran off to play pirate. But a great time was had by all.
And as is our family custom no goodie bags were given. Just a CD of some of her favorite songs from the past year.
While driving home from a Saturday morning ballet lesson, my 4-year-old and I heard this song on the radio.
Over the holidays the kids and I were given not one, not two, not three but seven music mixes from four different folks.
One is from a mom whose son is a classmate of the boys. She often hands me a CD with nothing on it and tells me to listen. This particular CD was full of off-beat holiday tunes including The Waitresses' Merry Christmas. That was the favorite Christmas song of the under 9 set. And is still being played in February.
Another came as a surprise from a dear blogging buddy. I was feeling the spirit.
The kids each got their own CD from that friend who is just about as perfect as a friend can be. One guy got a set of songs based on a long-ago college radio show that this friend and I hosted. Another friend got a set of retro rock songs based on his love of all things Elvis. And little lady got one titled "Living Room Dance Party" which included New Edition's Candy Girl.
The remaining two CDs came as surprises from my beloved Ambassador. Entitled "Allison Darling" and "Allison Darling II" - their mere existence made me weepy.
The song selection made me teary.
Now that this is little lady's all time favorite, and she asks me to lift her up during the song so she can fly, I outright sob.
This weekend we took the kids to see the 10th annual Urban Nutcracker. Created by former Boston Ballet dancer Tony Williams, it was a joyous celebration combining Tchaikovsky's original music with Duke Ellington's interpretation of the holiday classic. There was hip-hop, doo-wop singing, ballet, tap dancing, Irish step-dancing and dancing atop giant bounce balls with handles.
I wrote a novel, and I am still editing it.
