In Which We Wish Ballet Class Was Every Day

As I warned a relative already this morning...I will hurt anyone who says anything remotely negative or sarcastic to this particular child about this particular blog post. Well, maybe "hurt" is too strong a word. Or maybe not. Let's just not risk it, okay? :-)

Anyway, Chase took his first full ballet class yesterday. He had participated in a portion of a class last week, when Scarlett was, for some reason, reluctant to join in, and the teacher eagerly suggested he join on a regular basis as they prepare for a Nutcracker performance in December. So he participated in the whole class yesterday, and he was amazing. I don't necessarily mean that he was some kind of dance prodigy, although he did pick everything up quickly, and he did all the steps with great strength and coordination, which was fun to watch - but what I do mean was that he spent an hour happily listening, cooperating, following instructions, and helping other kids. The teacher immediately had kids following his lead, and he stayed focused on his role the whole time. It was fantastic.

I say this because he has never been the easiest kid to parent, and lately he's been especially challenging. It's been like having a six year-old Jekyll and Hyde in the house - one minute he's perfectly calm and happy, the next minute he's running down the aisle in church (during the service), tormenting his sister, yelling at the top of his lungs, demanding, refusing, insisting, whining, pushing all the buttons he can think of to push...You get the idea. He's been exhausting, quite frankly.

So it was a joy to see him so...grounded for a time. As wild as he appears at times, he really does appreciate order and precision, and I think he really enjoyed that aspect of the class. And, as he pointed out philosophically beforehand, 'If there are no boy dancers, the ballerinas don't have anyone to dance with." A perfectly valid point.

And to any doubters who need any other assurance, I have heard of football players taking ballet classes to help with their balance and coordination. If that doesn't convince you, fine. But if you say anything but something truly encouraging to my lad about this...back to the hurting. Just kidding. Well....