It's the last week of Cross Country. Monica has the all-city meet Sunday and then we will be switching gears. We are still working on getting Girl Scouts off the ground, but in the meantime I gave Monica the choice of which activity she'd like to do next. I was really pushing for swimming lessons (partly because I could do a mom-and-tot class with Jack at the same time) but no, what did my darling little daughter choose? Ballet. Now, to understand why this is a somewhat weighted issue for me, let me take you back in time for a moment... Right after Monica was born, Keri was pregnant with Kyle and was working long evening hours at the Community Center. One night I brought her dinner (Taco Time to be exact) and noticed a toddler girls' ballet class going on in the dance room. There were about 7 or 8 little girls, dressed all in pink with the ridiculous tutus on, jumping and flitting around doing "ballet." I suddenly found myself in a panic, wondering what the heck I would do if my sleeping infant daughter sometime in her future wanted to participate in such antics. I plopped down with Keri in front of our fast-food Mexican dinner and announced that I would just die if Monica ever wanted to do ballet. Keri laughed. But of course she ended up having a boy, and is not plagued with such dilemmas. But here I am, five years later, willingly signing her up for ballet. So what happened? Have I softened in my older years? Have I abandoned my desire to instill a love of athletics in my children? I can't lie and say I'd rather she was gung-ho about swimming or soccer right now, but for some reason unclear to me, God gave me a girly-girl and that's just who she is (at least right now). So, heck, if she wants to do ballet, it's fine with me as long as she has fun. It may even be kind of cute.
Can you practice a jump shot while wearing ballet shoes?
2 comments:
So you probably know how I feel about the subject (haha) and I am happy to tell you that if Monica loves ballet, you will definitely not be abandoning your desire to instill a love of athletics in her because although it sometimes does involve glittery, frilly tutus, ballet requires a huge amount of athleticism. Yeah, sometimes it looks like all it is is mindless twirling and flailing of limbs in the younger years (and sometimes, depending on where they're taking class, that can be all it is) but if they're trained at a reputable studio, it requires a ton of strength and discipline. Where is she going to take classes? I would highly, highly recommend British Dancing Academy right near Ikea on East Valley Highway (and yes, I'm biased because I trained there for 18 years).
That being said, I may need advice from you if my own sweet girl decides to don jerseys and cleats instead of pointe shoes and leotards because courts/fields/tracks are as foreign to me as theaters/studios/stages might be to you.
Can't wait to see pictures. Hehehe. Good luck! :)
I'm sure the pictures will abound. Thanks for the words of encouragement, Amanda! I had no idea you were a ballerina. :) I'm sure ballet has many athletic and coordination elements that will be good for her to experience.
We'll see!
(Also, I signed her up for "Ballet I" at the Burien Community Center. I figure we'll start small and if she really takes to it, explore other options for lessons.)
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