Dance

The Best Mother’s Day Gift

Jeanna G3 Comments

My daughter has been dancing her way through life for as long as I can remember. She jazz walks into a room, pirouettes her way to the mailbox, and slow taps Shirley Temples on repeat while telling me about her day.

This Mother’s Day weekend, my friend is freezing through hours of her son’s hockey tryouts, my sister is silently watching her daughter from the cart path through a combined 36 holes, and I’m fixing hair, makeup, and costumes for my daughter’s dance recital. Together we roll our eyes and ask why these things are planned on Mother’s Day weekend. The nerve! Don’t they know we just want to sleep through a weekend for once?? But we grab our coffees, load the car, and gps our way to whatever our calendar is reminding us to do.

But today I sat in the audience and felt gratitude for two things: 1) That the auditorium was dark as tears streamed down my face, because 2) the joy that radiated from my beautiful daughter shot me straight through the heart. Being with her in that moment is what motherhood is all about. Sure, laundry, taxiing, coaching, feeding, mending, funding, negotiations and acquiescing is the work. Witnessing their joy in being who they truly want to be is the ultimate reward.

Spring Fling

Jeanna G5 Comments

My daughter had her first school dance this past Friday evening. She’s in 5th grade, but you’d think it was the high school prom, considering her preparations. An hour before we were to arrive, she tells me she needs a solid color dress in teal. Thanks for all the notice! Magically, we find what we need…on clearance! We go, she dances and has fun, I meet another cool mom. Success!

I pray all of her future dances are just as simple and fun. Oh, and that all of her dresses are on clearance.

I remember my first dance, and the many more that followed. All fun, but I never really danced… except to the slow songs with my crush du jour.

My first dance was in 6th grade. It was immediately following dismissal. We changed in the bathroom, usually swapping clothes with friends who had cooler stuff than our own. We did the “Electric Slide,” we screamed and ran around, or we sat on the bleachers with our backs to the wall. Finally, we moseyed up to our crushes in time to sway along to “Stairway to Heaven,” while thanking heaven that it was such a long song.

How great are the times when there’s nothing else to think about than what you’re doing and who you’re with.

The Third of Firsts – My First High School Dance

Jeanna GLeave a comment

My first high school dance wasn’t a formal, just a fall social event in the commons, aka our school’s cafeteria. Casual attire was worn; jeans and t-shirts. Not too many kids were in attendance. We were a very small school, but I’m sure a lot of kids rolled their eyes at the thought of a school dance and decided to skip it. I was involved with the Student Council, so I pretty much had to go, but I would have gone anyway. Not only do I like to do stuff, but I knew my crush was going to be there.

He and I both played on the school soccer teams. A lot of our teammates were at the dance, so we spent most of the evening hanging out with each other. No one really danced to the fast songs, but most of us buddied up to sway along to the slow ones. For the first slow dance, one of the soccer players asked me to dance. A different teammate asked me to dance to the next one. This went on throughout the evening, but I kept hoping my crush would step up. Finally, at the last song, he asked me to dance. He said he wanted to ask all night, but his teammates knew it, so they jumped in just to mess with him. I was happy to have the best for last.

A week later he brought me flowers for our one week anniversary. We danced together at every winter formal and prom over the next three years, and at his college fraternity formal after those, but none were as sweet as the first.