Claire’s first dance class was today!  The countdown finally rolled to completion.  We finally got to take the new ballet slippers out of their box and take the tags off the new leotard and tutu.  Our whole morning was wrapped around the preparations: eat a good breakfast so we can go to Claire’s dance class, time to get out of the bath so we can get dressed to go to Claire’s dance class, hurry and put your shoes on so we can go to Claire’s dance class, etc.

And you know who was most excited?

Oh yes… CLAIRE (& Mommy) was!!!!

Claire was one of three pint-sized ballerinas today in class (the class was so small that we’re all changing to the Thursday class, meaning we’re going again tomorrow – woot!).  The other two little girls were VERY timid (one cried the entire time to go home).  Claire, however, was a perfect, little, enthusiastic angel!  She followed every instruction her teacher gave.  Best of all, Claire LOVED every minute.

During my younger life I always wanted to take ballet.  Now that I’m an adult, I suppose that yearning is still there, though I’m not necessarily looking to fill that desire.  Nah… I’ll just live vicariously through my dance-loving, three-year-old. ;)

Believe me, though, even though I dreamed of having a little dancer for a daughter, I waited for a LONG time before pursuing getting Claire involved in dance classes.  I didn’t want to push my dreams on her; I wanted her to want it for herself.  Lucky for me, this girl was born dancing.  She’s constantly tip-toeing and twirling around our house.  When she learned about “dance classes” she was frequently asking me if she could someday take a dance class.

Watching Claire dance today left me melting in a puddle on the studio floor: I loved it.  There’s something so beautiful about my daughter finding so much joy in her body’s movement.  Perhaps the pregnancy hormones are to blame, but I got teary-eyed watching her twirl and dance with a joy in her eyes that I absolutely treasure.  Claire’s been our “middle child” for the past 2.5 years and I’ve yearned to help her find her place.  Today I feel like we finally found it.  Claire has “her thing” now and she’s so happy.  And that makes me blissfully happy.

I hope she always loves to twirl and finds joy in dancing, no matter what happens in life.

p.s. Check out Em’s blog today for her ADORABLE pics of our two little boys at their swim class last week.

Tagged as: ballet, dance class, dreams, motherhood, preschoolers, toddlers