Ballet and a side of mom guilt

Our sweet little Jadyn Grace has been wanting to dance for a long, long time.


She was barely a year old when big sissy took her first ballet class. I can remember watching her stand in front of the viewing window (barely a year old at the time), her little hands pressed up to the glass.... completely entranced by what was happening inside.


When Jadyn was 16 months old, Kaylee had her first dance recital. The teacher suggested videoing the girls during class and playing it at home for them to practice. And when she did, Jadyn was right by her side... twirling and swaying and pointing her toes at all the right times. When big sister came on stage, little Jadyn could be found in the audience, wide-eyed and excited... happily cheering Kaylee on. And for two years I would hear the same question again and again, "Mommy, can I go to dance class too?"

You can imagine her excitement when she finally turned 3 and the new ballet season was only a few weeks away. I have to admit, we were just as excited to watch her. And it was everything I imagined it to be - pretty much the most adorable little thing I've ever seen!

~~~

I guess I should back up a little and point out that her first day didn't go exactly as planned. On Tuesday morning, I was getting our house back together from our Labor Day weekend of camping and decided I should look and double check the class times for Thursday. But when I pulled up the class schedule on the website, I realized their classes were on Tuesdays instead! I looked at the clock and it was 10:45 - her class was already starting and we live 20 minutes away. My heart fell into my stomach. Did I really just miss my little girl's very first dance class?? Luckily I was able to sign them both up for makeup classes that week (Kaylee Tues night and Jadyn thurs morning) but that didn't really help with the mom guilt. In fact, the only saving grace was that Thursday's class happened to be taught by Kaylee's teacher from last year, Miss Dotty... which made Jadyn extra excited.

Jadyn was just as sweet and endearing out there as I expected. Totally into everything they were doing and following Miss Dotty's instructions with an infectious grin. Well, and pausing every now and then to watch her cute little self in the mirror. But can you blame her? She's pretty adorable to watch. :-)



Oh, and a picture of the girls and their little dance bags from the following week after their real dance times. Such sweet sisters!