Have you ever seen that show "Toddlers & Tiaras"? If not, allow me to sicken...I mean enlighten you. TLC has this one show devoted to sharing the lives of parents who put their children in beauty pageants. These kids (sometimes younger then my 3 year old) are spray tanned, fake haired, caked on make up wearing...Fluffy dressed kids with fake teeth. They prance around in dresses that cost more then my wedding rings and sport bathing suits and show case what talent they have to a panel of judges who do just that. They are judged on looks and presentation. Need I say more about that? I am sure most of us can come up with biblical reasons why this SUCKS. Anyhow, I am not here to talk about those poor kids/parents. I am here to tell you about my experience. I feel like I had a similar experience today. Only this was the dance version.
After much research into the different schools of dance in town, we put our sweet little girl into dance class (ballet and tap) it was one class where the instructor (WONDERFUL lady) did 15 mins. of tap first to teach rhythm, then 15 mins. of ballet for coordination. The cost was only $30/month and I can claim it on my income tax so that is a bonus! Plus it got us out in the community more. What I didn't know was all that came along with the recital. WOW!!! First of all I would like to mention that our little one LOVES dance class so we were enjoying this activity with her. BUT things got hectic when they decided to put the picture/rehearsal day on a SUNDAY! Not only that but the time for her pictures conflicted with church. Right away I got in contact with the dance instructor and explained that this set up would not be possible for us. I told her that both of us are pastors and it would be impossible for us to get to the site on time for this event. Also I mentioned that if the actual recital was at the same time and on a Sunday that we would have to rethink our future in dance. This really made me sad for Megan because I know how much she loves her dance so I left it in God's hands. The next day we were told that the whole rehearsal/recital times had been changed to accommodate our family. Apparently it had slipped the instructors mind and she had meant to accommodate us all along. So we felt very blessed to be able to have the best of both worlds. We had the chance to share and rub shoulders with people outside of our circle. I also feel like God blessed our faithfulness. We were not willing to compromise our first commitment and I believe we were honored for that.
BUTTTTT I did not enjoy the atmosphere. We showed up on site and I felt as if I was in the middle of an episode of Toddlers & Tiaras. Megan had two costumes with two pairs of different tights, she had to have a bun with a hairnet (standard ballerina stuff) then I placed a hair piece on her!...We were told that she needed red lipstick, brown eye shadow and bronzer for her cheeks! All that was missing was the fake teeth and spray tan. She was ushered in for pictures, then she went on stage then she was whisked off where we did a wardrobe change, pictures again and then she hit the stage again however she didn't get to dance because she twisted her little knee. Poor thing bawled because she didn't get to dance. We assured her that she did get to go on stage again sometime. Dance was not over...
The chaos was too much. We showed up in the outfit that we were told to and when we arrived we found out that it was changed. So we rushed to switch tights and the outfit. Apparently I was more gracious about the mix up. Another Mom was SOOO mad about the mix up that she was dropping the *F* Bomb in the change room and completely yelling at the dance instructor...Thankfully we didn't hear it. I was able to communicate to one of the instructors that the Mom was probably not mad at that incident. She was most likely reacting to something else negative that happened during the day and unfortunately this was her outlet. So that was a neat exchange. Regardless...I am glad it is over and thankfully the competition day/time conflicts with our Sunday schedule. This means that Megan will not be judged and we will get to take part in the less stressful event which is the recital (just for fun). However, now that we have had this complete dance experience we will be choosing another activity for Megan. We asked her if she would like to dance again next year and thank God she said no...for now anyways. She said she would like to swim or play soccer. No make up or fake hair involved. WHEW! Anyhow...I couldn't get away without sharing some pictures of our experience so I hope you liked them!
