All She Wants To Do Is Dance

So! Ariel's dance class! That's happening!

And would you like to know a big part of why I was able to sign her up without becoming a drug dealer or anything? It was because the lovely, lovely Ginny Marie SENT me the ballet and tap shoes that her daughters had outgrown and so we didn't have to buy Very Expensive Shoes on top of the registration fees and everything!

I love Ginny Marie. And very small ballet and tap shoes. And this whole (very real) community we have on the Internet. Love, love, love!

Ariel nearly lost her mind when we got the package with the shoes. It was all, "MY BARINNA SHOES!" for the next hour, pretty much. Later in the week we went to the studio to sign her up for a free trial class and she told the manager very seriously, "I need to dance, I a barinna." And the manager knew that she meant ballerina without even missing a beat. I guess they hear lots of three year old versions of that. I have the most amazing mental picture (mental because I was too busy studying her to take an actual picture, alas) of Ariel resting her chin on the low edge of the big viewing window, watching a class in progress that night, completely mesmerized. And she was NOT happy when we left without taking her into a class!

She was completely hooked with the trial class we went to a few days later, so I signed up as soon as it was over.

For the trial, they are supposed to just wear leggings and a t-shirt, and you wouldn't believe how crazy it drove me that she wasn't dressed the same as the other little girls. CRA.ZY. But not nearly so crazy as the one leg of her leggings that was hiked up for pretty much the entire class and I just really NEEDED to go over to her and pull it down! But I didn't. And look at how much fun she had, how she stayed (mostly) in the line with the other girls, how she attempted to do the same movements, how good she followed all the instructions. All the instructions that she understood, at least. We practiced a few things at home over the week, and I really think I was right, that this is good practice for starting preschool in the fall.

In the car after that trial class, she was very earnest and kept saying, "But Mama, I need to go back. I need to go dance class again." So yeah, hooked!

Amazingly, on top of the beautiful gift of shoes, I hardly had to buy anything else for this class. There was a black leotard with an attached skirt already hanging up in her closet that my mama had grabbed at a thrift store for me when I started talking about dance class. There were the right size of flimsy pink tights at the bottom of her dresser drawer, that I had bought AT LEAST a year ago because they were on sale at Target for fifty cents. We have more than our share of pink tulle to make tutus and hair pretties already in stock. Aside from paying for the class itself, the only thing I spent money on was nine dollars for a sparkly pink purse that I then attacked with a hot glue gun, tulle, and some marabou, turning it into the fanciest nine dollar dance bag EVER!

She was pretty much thrilled beyond words to get all of her dance stuff on and carry her dance bag and go back to dance class this past Friday.

And I'm pretty much thrilled beyond words, too. I get to sit and watch her, without distractions, for an hour. She's so amazing and breathtaking! So smart and good and funny and beautiful!
After class we walked to Starbucks and she was rewarded for her excellent dancing with a hot chocolate and a cookie. Tradition in the making? I think yes! As far as I'm concerned, every Friday morning for the foreseeable future can consist of Mama and Ariel time... dance class and Starbucks and oh, there's a used bookstore right down the street, do you want to stop there and get a book, baby? Me too.

She really is a lot of fun, that girl.