When the girls finished up swimming lessons, back in August I had every intention of signing Reagan up for karate. But she wasn't very excited about it. And I couldn't find a place for her to take karate, that I liked, and that was close to our house. Time passed, and I thought I'd put Reagan on a rec. basketball team, instead. But then, Reagan informed me that she wanted to take dance lessons, like her friend. I don't know which friend she was referring to? But Reagan was dead-set on taking dance.
I inwardly, and outwardly, GROANED. I never, notinamillionyears, wanted Reagan to take dance. I viewed most of the girls that did dance in Junior High School, and High School as floozie's. I really wanted Reagan to be an athlete, not a booty-shaking priss.
Against my better judgement, I started scouting out dance classes. Most of the "dance academy's" I looked at just confirmed my (low) opinion of dancers. I was floored at the dedication, not to mention: cash, these studio's wanted- even from their pre-school age dancers!
Then, I found a lovely woman that taught dance lessons in her basement. She teaches mainly little ones. She posted the dance routine's online and they were tasteful and cute. Plus, she was affordable, and close to home. So, I bit the bullet, and signed Reagan up. It also didn't help that our pediatrician said that dance lessons might help to correct Reagan's pigeon-toed-ness.
I purchased second-hand leotard's, tap & ballet shoes on eBay. Because, heaven knows, I'm not willing to invest in the pricier new versions. I'm honestly hoping Reagan's just going through a phase.
I will be more than happy to let her try out karate, or basketball, or (next year, when she's old enough) soccer! After this, I may even consider plunking down the exorbitant amount of money that it costs for her to do private swimming lessons year-round.
But she enjoyed her first class so much, that I may have already lost her to the "dark side".
Oh well.
I guess I need to start working on Elsa, like, NOW.... That girl is already built like a basketball player.
3 comments:
Ha ha ha! I totally went through that same thought process. Mostly selfish reasons. I don't fit in with the "dance moms" I didn't want my girls wearing itty bitty tight clothes and shimmy-ing their body. But it does great for self esteem, body awareness, and listening and following directions. But... After four years of dance, both my girls have decided that they want a break from dance! But now they want gymnastics and that my friend is pricey! For one of them it was more than double what I was paying for both of them to dance. Grrrr!
If you get time, I'd love to hear more about where you take Reagan for dance. It might be in our future with Ellie, and I hate little girls doing dance moves that look slutty, for lack of a better word.
Oh dear. I am already dreading this, too, because Molly's favorite part of a ball game is half time.
A colleague of mine lives in Davis County and has a dance studio that she likes (they only do classical ballet-type stuff, no make-up at performances, etc.). She and I had a conversation similar to your blog post once and she mentioned this.
Good luck!
Oh . . . and my sister-in-law came to visit from North Carolina recently. She brought Molly and Jack UNC gear. I would have preferred NC State, but was just glad it wasn't Duke (ha ha ha,evil laugh). She lives within an hour drive of 4 major basketball powerhouses. I have to admit I'm a bit jealous of that.
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