Tiny Dancer

Ballet. When I was a girl I COULD NOT WAIT to grow up and get married and have a daughter so I could take her to ballet class. So today was pretty much the goal of my whole life.* The idea of Mercy in a leotard and tights? So cute it hurts. But it's been a long journey of indoctrination, I mean encouragement, getting her to this point (no pun intended). Let me walk you through the process.

You see, as soon as baby Mercy started standing up I started putting a tutu on her. She would usually get upset and take it off. She refused to wear one for a LONG time, much to my dismay. I kept trying, though, and good thing nobody but her saw ME wearing it around the house hoping she'd want to imitate me. Then we started watching ballet on YouTube once in awhile. Then I hung up a handtowel for her with embroidered ballerinas on it that she dries her hands on several times a day, heh heh heh. Then, this spring, we went to go observe a class so she could see other little girls dancing. So over the course of a year my overt and subliminal schemes worked and she finally came around. Yes! Now she loves to put on tutus (of her own accord!) and dance around the house.

I found an instructor that accepts 2-year-olds and holds classes at a church (they have to be 3 at all the studios). Mercy will be learning worship ballet, because if you're not dancing for Jesus, why are you dancing? There are 6 other 2- and 3-year-old girls in her class and they were all so precious that the other moms and I could barely console each other. A couple of them joined me in making the hair bun effort, which is not that easy with such super-fine hair. Well, after all the monumental build-up and a lifetime of expectation my camera weenied out. So this is it, but don't worry--there will be many, many, many more to come. (SS)

*I do tend toward hyperbole, so relax everybody. My real goal in life is to one day own a laundromat.

Mercy hamming it up during class...

and conked out afterwards.