What we do for our kids

Molly wanted to take ballet. She begged to take ballet. So in January, for her half birthday celebration, I enrolled her in a once a week class at the local community center. And so we have gone to ballet. Pretty much every week. I hate it. She loves it. There are only girls in her class and each week my heart breaks a little more for the twin brother of one of the girls who quietly dances on the side, seemingly longing to join the class. And each week I listen to a barage of Disney princess music and wonder how this is shaping my daughter. But then there are high moments...when asked which is her favorite princess, and after listening to 15 other girls call out "Jasmine" "Cinderella" "Ariel"...my daughter shouts out "Fiona" (from Shrek) and makes the whole room take a pause.

She dances her heart out...well, when she isn't looking at herself in the mirror. She my not-quite 4 year old can not pass up the opportunity to see herself in a reflection, any reflection (even the side of the car). Vanity, thy name is Molly.

Then came recital. Oh, you should have seen her light up at the suggestion of a recital. Afterall, following the first class, when I asked her what she thought, her response was "good, but where was the stage?" The recital seemed like a bad idea to me. Two weeks of additional practice, at night, starting at 6pm and going until a minimum of 8pm. She's three. Too much. But she so wanted to do it. I took her to the parent meeting, had her listen to all the details...how long the practices are, that she can't come see me or her dad, she has to follow directions, there is a lot of waiting, she'll only be in two short numbers...consistently she promised she wanted to do it. And so we signed her up.

The first practice went until after 8. The Friday night practice she didn't get home until a quarter to 11. Similar pattern the following week. She loved it. Never wanted to quit (trust me I asked). Never complained. Never said she didn't want to do it. And then recital.

GrammiE and PopPop came up. Tia Lou was there. We sat in the balcony to see the full show. There was no air conditioning. But we were there...my child's performance. She was in spot #2 and then after intermission, spot #40. There were 65 performances. Which took 4 hours and 45 minutes to complete. I'm not kidding. It was unreal. But when we finally got back stage to pick her up...Molly was all smiles. Thrilled and excited. Especially thrilled with the flowers that Auntie Didi had prepared and sent with GrammiE and PopPop. She looked exhausted, and a little sweaty. But so happy. She said her favorite part was taking a bow. In her mind she is pure star. And why should she see herself any other way.

I still question the sanity of allowing my 3 year old daughter go through such long practices and even longer performance. I still don't particularly love the idea of ballet classes. But there is no denying how happy she is while doing ballet. She is feeling her body move, she is strong in herself, and happy. What more could ya want?