Life of a Dance Mom

I joke a lot about being a "dance mom" because honestly, sometimes - mostly when I'm backstage surrounded by shoes and makeup and drama - it does drive me just a little bit crazy.

But for the most part I love being a dance mom. Especially when good things happen to Olivia.

Let's talk about Olivia and dancing for a bit, shall we? Olivia started dancing about 4 years ago when she decided she wanted to take ballet. It became clear very quickly that this was something she LOVED.

I'm talking Olivia LOVES TO DANCE. She's always practicing her positions at home or ... well basically anywhere she can. Sometimes I have to ask her to please not spin so close to the stone fireplace. She rattles off ballet terms as if I'm supposed to know what she means...usually I just smile and nod.

Ballet is what makes Olivia happy.

Last fall we switched from a dance studio to the local ballet school so that Olivia could focus on the basics of ballet and work her way toward being en pointe. She started out in Advance Beginning Ballet based on her experience and age.

All year I've watched her work every week in two ballet classes and a pre-pointe class. She works hard every single week and today the hard work paid off.

Liv received her evaluation for the year and her teachers have recommended that she continues to take Advance Beginning AND also move up to Intermediate I for one class. Now that might sound like a whole lot of nothing to most of you but it's a big deal to a dancer. It means Olivia has made progress and her teachers recognize that and have promoted her up one level.

After all the health struggles Liv has dealt with this year I'm so happy that she has some really good news.

When she read her evaluation and saw the words Intermediate I she was beaming. Like literally smiling from ear-to-ear.

"Are you proud of me mommy?" she asked.

You have no idea how proud I am.