It's all about the details…
Saturday after Ballet Class, Claire told me that she jumped so high her head got stuck in the ceiling! She said it was “a disaster!” and that Miss Michelle couldn’t even get her down!
Apparently, I’m getting better at doing the Ballet Bun, because not a single hair on her head had moved after such an adventure.
For the record, we love Claire’s Ballet School. We do. We also knew that when you choose an “extracurricular activity,” there will be some costs not presented (or fully itemized) up front. We also feel these costs are worth it.
Whether it be sports equipment or uniforms or whatnot, the benefit of the activity far outweighs the cost.
(And it’s the whatnot that will get you every time…)
She loves her school.
She really does.
And, that’s a good thing, because there are times when I feel like we’re being nickel & dimed.
Again, I mean no disrespect to the school.
Still…why tiptoe around some of these fees? We’d still participate in the school; I promise.
Case in point…
We picked up her packet for her participation in the End of Year Gala Celebration. Participation in this event is free. “There is no fee to be in this show.” I’m quoting a sentence out of the packet.
However, everyone needs a costume to participate in the Gala, and those are NOT free. Those, in fact, are far from free. (Granted, they are cheaper than other schools charge, but anything greater than ZERO is indeed a “fee.”)
Again, I love this school. In an effort to help the parents justify the cost of costumes, part of the costumes used in the Gala can be used in her regular classes. That’s awesome. That’s a good use of fundage. Those are nickels and dimes we would have been paying eventually anyway.
But, to say there is “no fee” on one page of the packet and then turn around and tell me the price I need to pay for the costume, in order for her to participate in the Gala, on another page leaves me a little bewildered.
I hate to break it to them, but if one of the requirements costs something, participation in the overall activity is not free.
Why not just say that? Or say it in French, at least. It would sound so pretty then.
Recently, I had the opportunity to sit in on Claire’s ballet class. This was a big deal, because the ballet school Claire attends does not normally allow parents to watch their little ballerinas in action. Once a month, we can peek through a one-way mirror while standing quietly in the hallway, but this was the first time I’d be able to sit in on the class and see what they do firsthand.
I didn’t know if we’d be able to take photos, so I didn’t bring my camera. Of course, when we got there, the teacher said we could! But, never fear! Glenda is always with me, and she’s always more than happy to oblige.
Claire had a blast showing off her moves, and in true Diva-style, the audience didn’t bother her in the least!
Did I mention that Daddy and Claire got me a fancy-schmancy photo-editing software program for Christmas? Well, they did, and I’m having a blast learning all about it.
So, I thought I’d try my hand at some of the cool stuff I can do with photos now.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go wash these paintbrushes.
*Okay, not really.
For real.
I have never used AquaNet on my child.
Okay, except that one time…back in July…but it was for a wedding! She was the star of the show Diva Flower Princess flower girl! And, it wasn’t even my AquaNet!
Anyway…
I learned a long time ago that battles over hair are not ones I’m going to put much tactical effort or resources into fighting.
I told Claire she could have her hair however she wanted it. She decided she wanted to grow it long, so that’s what we’re doing. She flips back and forth about what she wants to do with her bangs, but I have a rule: Clip it or cut it. If you can’t keep your bangs out of your eyes with a clip of some sort, we get them cut. Period. Hair falling into her eyes drives me absolutely crazy and makes me twitch.
This, of course, is information she’ll use against me one day.
Her Ballet School has rules about hair. All the girls are required to have their hair up in a Ballet Bun. She’s allowed to have bangs in her Preschool Ballet class (and a pony-tail if it’s a particularly challenging day on the Hair Front), but the older levels have different rules: Ballet Bun and no bangs. When she reaches that point, we’ll discuss her options, and it will be up to her.
Lately, Claire has been begging to have her hair curled. One day, I did that before school. With a curling iron. I gave us plenty of time to get ready, but I knew something wasn’t quite right when I’d officially spent more time on her hair than mine.
Her hair doesn’t hold curl very well, so imagine my joy at seeing her relatively curl-less hair when I picked her up from Preschool. She doesn’t know her hair doesn’t hold curl very well, so she had no idea that it wasn’t as curly as before.
We did discover that when we take her hair down from her Ballet Bun, it’s the perfect curliness. When it’s curled like that, it tends to stay a little bit longer. So, we’ve been doing that at night. I position the bun so that it won’t hurt her little head why she’s sleeping, and in the morning, once we’ve had breakfast, donned our attire, and the bun is unfurled, we’re greeted with perfect curls.
She thinks she looks like Sleeping Beauty.
…and I look like a Stage Mom.
…even without the AquaNet.
Today, Claire and I got to try out a new ballet school. This one is a “real” ballet school, where they take everything very seriously…yet they have fun. This is the perfect combination for my little girl who loved her Rec Center Ballet Classes, but got a little perturbed with the other girls who “don’t pay attention and do the right moves, Momma!” …not to mention the whole fiasco with messing with her hair!
This ballet school isn’t very far from our house, and has come highly recommended. We went last week to take a peek and loved what we saw. We were invited to try it out today before making our decision, but I had a sneaking suspicion it would go well.
And, it did!
Claire LOVED it. The teacher said she did really well, and I’m so proud of her! The most shocking turn of events was when Claire actually allowed me to put her hair in a bun before we left the house. I knew it wasn’t up to “standards,” but I also knew that they allow the preschool class to wear a ponytail if all else fails.
We got to the school a little early so that a professional could help me with the shoes and Claire’s hair. What? Have you ever tried to figure out ballet shoes? Oh, they seem so simple now. (Here’s a hint: There really ISN’T a right and left. They really ARE the same.) And, I could rock a mad bun in my own hair a million years ago, but doing a bun on someone who up until that very morning refused to allow such a pastry-named hairstyle grace her tresses? I needed the help of a third party.
In true form, Claire was a perfect angel for the wonderful lady who came to our rescue. She looked like such a big girl in her outfit, with her hair all done up in a bun.
The class went without incident, and Claire professed her love for it immediately. We went ahead and filled out all the paperwork and made things official.
Before we left, we had a chance to watch the older dancers practicing. One of the ballerinas smiled directly at Claire through the observation window, and Claire was completely mesmerized. The look on her face was priceless. Maybe one day, she’ll be on the other side of that glass smiling at the brand new ballerinas.
Claire had her first Ballet Recital last night!
Over all, it went well. It went exactly as I anticipated a Ballet Recital of this magnitude to go. This wasn’t a professional dance studio, and our main goal was to have fun while learning the basics. She had such a great time that I’ve already signed her up for the next session, too.
The only issue she had with the class was that it was full of 3-yr olds…by design. There was no way around that. Claire wanted to focus and literally learned all the steps in one class. She actually took this seriously, which isn’t what most 3-yr olds do. She was surrounded by little girls who would rather run around and act all crazy. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
To be honest, if I could justify the expense, I really think Claire would benefit from a true dance studio.
Just in case you think she’s uptight and stuffy…that’s not the case! Here is the face she said she was going to use on stage:
She didn't, but I kinda wished she would have!
Anyway…the Ballet Recital was a hit! But, in the essence of full disclosure, the casual side of my personality had to work double-time to compensate for the perfectionist side. I think I kept the twitching to a minimum.
I know the girls in her class are only 3-yrs old, and you’re going to get what you get.
I’ll give you three guesses as to the only ballerina who absolutely refused to wear the weird hat…and the first two guesses don’t count.
Go, Claire!
Oh, wait. I’m supposed to be upset by that? I’m not!
She told me later that she told them, “That hat will mess up my hair, and that is unacceptable.” (Yes, that’s a direct quote.) I thought it was hilarious and exactly what they deserved. Errr, I mean, she’s three! Whatterya gonna do? Either way, I’m not going to complain about it, because I don’t have time to be on that committee, too.
But, I digress.
In the end, the casual part won, and we’re counting the Ballet Recital as a complete success. We can’t wait for the next one!
Mondays are a good day around here. Mondays mean we get to go to Ballet. And, by “we,” I mean Claire gets to go dance, and I get to go watch her on the TV monitor.
Today marks her third class, and she loves it!
First Day of Ballet!
The parents are not allowed back in the dance room, so we’re relegated to sitting out in the waiting room and watching on a large black and white TV monitor. The screen is split into four sections, so that regardless of where our little ballerinas are standing (or twirling), we’ll be able to see them.
Claire picked out her own leotard and shoes. This is a class through our Rec Center, so they aren’t as stringent on the clothing rules as the “real” ballet schools are. She wanted the hot-pink butterfly one, so that’s the one she got. We both thought the black ballet shoes went well with her ensemble.
I tied her hair up in a ponytail and then tried not to cry.
Just like Claire, I was really excited for the first class to get here. The fact that I needed to hold back tears startled me. My baby is isn’t a baby anymore, and I’m happy about that. But there was just something about watching her follow the teacher’s direction on the screen that nearly made me lose it. She’s like this little girl now…
But, I kept it together, and none of the other moms were the wiser.
She LOVED the class, and she did really well! She did so well, in fact, that the teacher asked me afterward which other Ballet Classes she’s been in. I was shocked. This was her first Ballet Class. She’s been dancing around the house en pointe for a long time now, and when she asked to take classes, we had to wait for her age to match the criteria.
The teacher told me that she knows the ballet positions already. She showed her once, and she got it…just like that.
I don’t even know the Ballet Positions. In fact, I had to have a friend tell me that what Claire was doing by dancing on the tops of her toes actually had a name (the en pointe I mentioned above…)
Apparently one of the skeletons in our closet is that of a famous Ballerina?
So, we’re going to foster this. She loves it, and she’s really good at it. I’m not enrolling her in a daily routine at a hard-core school, but we are going weekly from now until December. When she’s a bit older, she can decide how much she wants to pursue this.
In the meantime, she’s trying to teach me all her moves…and we actually look forward to Mondays.
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