two years ago, my sweet middle daughter d, came to me and asked if it would be possible for me to enroll her in a hip-hop dance class. she used manners. she exhibited an understanding of family time, obligations and finances... and it wasn't manipulative. she was 100% honest and sincere.
yes.
this is a yes, you should seize.
and so i did. and my d went to her hip-hop class once a week and loved every. single second. and suddenly i found my girl dancing through life. she could barely walk ten steps without throwing in a high leg or a split or a shimmy.
she was in her happy place.
it was low cost/ high reward.
come spring, i was approached by her dance teacher and asked if we had considered "team". no.
no, we had not.
we were invited to auditions.
and so we threw our hat into the ring and said, "why not at least try?"
and she made the team.
two teams, in fact.
what's a mom to do? and so we accepted both spots, one on hip-hop and one on jazz.
we have not looked back.
my girl found her calling. she is a dancer. she loves every single second of it. often, i find her stretching in her room or working on her latest position.
i find myself giggling from time to time and saying things like, "so... you know i'm a dance mom, right?"
i am so far out of this world. i can barely do my own hair and makeup, but this year i learned how to do a "cat eye", fake eyelashes and a sock bun. i didn't know i had it in me... but #dancemom's got THIS. (giggle)
and then came our first competition dance weekend. d and i hit the road on a friday and headed out of town. just me and my girl. i'll be honest, i was a little miffed. it was opening weekend of lacrosse and i was missing two of my girls opening games.
but i was also excited. this dance world was sort of fun and new and exciting.
as we hit the road, my d started talking to me. that girl LOVES to talk and with a few hours in the car, a mom never knows what conversations might open up. and open up she did. we talked about everything! we dance partied. we prayed. we nervoused the heck out of things. shared. confided. giggled and had a blast.
and in the midst of it all, i realized that my happy go-lucky middle girl needed THIS. she needed time with her momma. she needed an opportunity to challenge herself and experience how it feels to be an imperfect perfectionist. she needed to push herself into the uncomfortable and do exactly what makes her happy while also experiencing discomfort.
she needed this crazy, talented, fun dance family that would be an extension of us and fill the gaps in her life that this momma could never fill.
and we got ALL of THAT. my d has found her place. she loves her studio. she loves her instructors. she adores the stage. she thrives under the pressure. and lucky am i to get to go along for the ride. but sometimes we get EXACTLY what we never knew we NEEDED.
delaney wins. momma wins.
it's been an amazing ride. and this weekend was recital weekend. i looked at my girl mid-day, several hours in and said, "are you doing ok?".
she replied, "mom, i love every single second."
and i have no words. when your kiddo finds what they love (or at least love right now), it is worth it all. and if on top of loving it, you get little gifts (like extra 1:1 time), you take it and don't look back.
and so to my hip-hop jazz girl... momma has no idea where you get your mad skills. it is certainly not from me. none-the-less, this momma is ever so thankful for you finding your jam, pursuing your passion, fighting through the hard and pushing yourself to excel at something.
#dancemom
