How I Spent My Sunday Afternoon (Alt. Title: My Life as a Reluctant Dance Mom)

You see that line up there?

Maybe you're thinking it's a line for the hottest concert in town?

Maybe you'd be wrong.

That my friends is the line to buy tickets to the dance recital.

Yep. You heard me.
A line.
To buy tickets.
FOR A DANCE RECITAL.

You also might be thinking "oh lovely blue sky, it must be a nice spring day."

Again you'd be wrong.

The temperature was about 46 with a VERY COLD wind out of the east. So it felt like 41 degrees.

My Sunday afternoon was spent sitting in that line, freezing my butt off wearing my winter coat, gloves, and a fleece blanket.

All so my sister and I could get "really good" seats in the "Golden Circle" for our daughters' dance recital next month.

Call us crazy but we weren't the only ones. We were joined by many other "crazy" moms and some even less sane people who actually CAMPED OUT OVERNIGHT to buy tickets.

I couldn't make this up if I tried.
People camp out for tickets.
To a dance recital.

To say that was crazy would be a huge understatement.

And yes, before anyone starts the whole "but you CHOOSE to sit/stand in that line"...yes, I realize this. But it doesn't mean that I think it is in any way, shape, or form NORMAL. Because it isn't normal. It will never be normal.

There has to be a better way to sell tickets for a dance recital that doesn't include standing in line for hours.

You know there is this nifty thing called The Internet. And you can buy and sell tickets on it. Using a computer or a smart phone. From the comfort (and warmth) of your home. I'm pretty sure that would alleviate all the drama and insanity around recital tickets. 

And yes, I'm sure I could still get "OK" seats if I just waited until the next dance class. But trust me when I say the auditorium where the dance recital takes place is the same theater where they show Broadway-style shows in this city and if you aren't close to the stage you can't see your kid's face. And after a year of lessons and costumes and rehearsals, I'd like to see my kids' faces when they dance.

Which means every year I have to submit myself to the insanity that is the DANCE RECITAL TICKET LINE.

And it will make me stabby every year. Which is why I suck at being a 'dance mom.' As much as I LOVE watching my kids dance .... I am not made out for the whole recital-backstage-dance-mom-ritual. It's just not in my DNA.

But I will keep doing the waiting in line for recital tickets because this is for my kids and they love to dance.

And that's what it's all about.
My kids.

Dance on my friends.
Dance on.

Wordless Wednesday - An aristocat

Emma, our little aristocat after her very first dance recital!

Dance recitals are strange, strange things

So, by now I'm sure many of you have seen this video - it's been ALL OVER the news in the past few days...and everyone is talking about the young girls (ages 8 and 9) and the dance moves they're performing while dressed like the elementary school version of the Pussycat Dolls.

The parents of the girls claim the "costumes" are just that - dance costumes that were completely appropriate for a dance competition.

Personally, I would not want my daughters to dress that way - I don't care if it's "appropriate" for the dance routine. Little girls should not look like that.

I just don't understand why parents are so insistent on forcing their little girls to grow up so quickly. Why can't little girls just be little girls?

Which brings me to the dance recital I just sat through.

One routine in particular left me scratching my head and wondering "what the heck just happened?"

The dancers in the group were tweens (probably ages 10- 12) and I can't tell you what song they started dancing to, but the routine ended with Ke$ha's "Tik Tok". These girls were singing along to the song as they danced (I don't know why) and yes, they sang the line "I brush my teeth with a bottle of Jack."

Yeah, I'm serious.
Tween girls sang a line about brushing their teeth with a bottle of Jack Daniels.

I couldn't make this up if I wanted to.

I cannot imagine for the life of me (1) what the hell the dance instructor was thinking when she picked Ke$ha's song (which for all intents and purposes is about going out and partying until the "police shut them down" .... not exactly what tween girls should be doing on a Friday night), and (2) what the hell were the parent's thinking when they said "yeah, that's a good idea".

Call me crazy, but maybe...just maybe...there should be an "age appropriate" thought process in things like this. I'm quite certain there was a better song out there ... and one that didn't require little girls to sing about boozing it up with Jack.