Dancing

As my little kids grow into big kids, I'm understanding more and more that a mother has to understand good timing.

We have to know when to be present and involved and when to just stay out of the way.

Today was Liliana's first day of dance class. She's been anticipating it for weeks. It's the one thing that easily translates from one geographic location to the next.

By now, Liliana and I have done dance class enough to know just what she needs and what she doesn't.

 

There are dance studios for little girls in every town in America and they all have a mirror and a barre, a dress code and an elegant teacher to guide the students through their steps.

 

I bought the shoes, the tights and the leotard.

I wrote the check. I tied the bun. I drove her to the studio -- early.

I took pictures, then, when she started to dance, I stayed for a second to watch, then took her brothers and got out of the way.

 

The boys and I hit the nearby library to kill some time and then stopped by the rec center to sign Calvin up for a sports class for the fall.

We watched the Zamboni smooth out the ice rink for a while, then headed back to the dance studio just in time to help Lili switch from ballet slippers to tap shoes and send her back out onto the dance floor for the remainder of the class.



When class was over, the boys and I returned and helped our big girl navigate the changing room and the crowd of mommies and children, then we headed to lunch.

Liliana told us she'd had a great time and learned some new things. She had liked her new teacher and the kids in her class were nice, too.

 

As we entered the sandwich shop, Lili smiled shyly and waved at a girl she knew from class. The little girl smiled, waved back, then quickly looked away.

It was as if the two of them had just shared a secret the rest of the world wasn't privy to.

***

It hurt a little that my daughter had done something new today and that I couldn't be there to soak in every part of it, but I know that is part of what made it so great for Liliana.

It was all her own, and that's just the way she needed it to be.