Dance Mom

I find myself in a new category of peoples this year. I am a "dance mom." My younger daughter has been in dance for about 2.5 years now, and this year she is doing "competition" dance - is in a small group and they go to dance competitions. Her routine is in tap dance style, and there are extra lessons, costume, makeup that goes with all of this. There is a camaraderie amongst the moms of these little dancers. There is a whole culture to this thing that I did not really appreciate before I agreed to let her sign up for this. It's one of those things that can look crazy if you are not a part of it. Seriously, I wonder if we aren't a bit like those little kid pageant moms. Anyways, I'm all in. I'm talking wigs and makeup and practice prodding and spending every Saturday morning until May at the dance studio. And though it may not be for the faint of heart (or the busy of schedule, or protective of weekend down-time), it has its charms, watching my six-year-old falap-ball-change her way around the house. Also, as a bonus, I now know a whole new group of women who exchange waves with me as we pass in our minivans.

As an aside, they have dance lessons for adults on Sundays. The instructor swears that it is for exercise only, and it intrigues me, but I have never taken dance. We'll put this idea in the "scary" pile.