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Dance lessons for those with cool moves already

In our latest series of parenting endeavours, we have started to feel that we were depriving our children of fun activities as it seems like the rest of their peers were in some sort of activity.
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In our latest series of parenting endeavours, we have started to feel that we were depriving our children of fun activities as it seems like the rest of their peers were in some sort of activity. Had I not misread the Leisure Guide and registered the kids into their appropriate swim level, we just would have just enrolled the kids in swim lessons. However, I missed the first day of signing up (again) and the only swim lessons that were available were at 11 a.m. in the middle of the week. Onwards to our next choice: dance.

One of my favourite times that we have as a family is our semi-weekly dance party nights. On dance party nights, the kids finish their dinner at their same glacially-slow pace (unless we are eating pancakes for breakfast in which case dinner is consumed within three bites) and then we clear the living room of furniture to make room for the party. If we happen to have good dancing music in the CD player, we will use the CD player (because yes I still listen to music and buy CDs). If my husband is taking part in the dance party, he generally overrules our CD choices (Backstreet Boys and Madonna) and we listen to an assortment of music channels on Shaw Stingray Music on TV.

What I like about the music channels is the variety of genres and styles that can be chosen. Without these channels, I never would have known that my son has a fondness for electronic house music and East Coast hip hop or that my daughter particularly likes to groove to Easy Listening Adult Jazz. I like to dance to 90s music myself while my husband prefers Motown. The one song that always brings us together is Groove is In the Heart by Deelight. Who doesn't love this song?

Anyway, because dance parties are wildly popular at our house, we decided to put the kids in dance lessons for the first time. Because I was late (always), I couldn't get both kids in at a close time so our daughter has class on Saturday morning and our son has class Saturday afternoons.

The first Saturday went like this: I woke up in a panic to remember that I don't have tights or a bodysuit for our daughter so I went to Sears, Winners, Superstore and Walmart looking for a dance bodysuit (not a bathing suit) and light pink (not dark pink) tights with no feet. I found pink tights with feet and cut out the toes but I wasn't able to find a bodysuit anywhere in town because it was the first dance day in September and better organized parents bought them all.

I had thought the class started at 10 but then I started to second-guess myself and had my husband look up the time on the website and he told me the class started at 10:45. I arrived at the studio with my daughter in tights and a too-small, bathing suit to learn that the class was at 10 and we missed it. So my daughter started to cry and the instructor said that we could just join the next class which was for younger kids but it would be fine. We could go to our regular class the following weekend.

I bought a bodysuit from the studio and we joined the class to discover it was a parent participation class.

Yay.

After the class, we drove back home to eat lunch and only to leave again to drop off our daughter at birthday party. Meanwhile, my husband drove our son to his dance class.

Upon learning that he was going to be taking dance lessons, our six-year-old looked up at me with a confused expression: "I already know some cool moves, mom. I don't need a lesson."

To which I replied, "Yes, I know you have cool moves but in dance class you will learn new moves." Frowning, he said, "My moves are pretty great. Maybe I'll show the teacher my cool moves."

I told him that yes, he had the best moves but he still needed to listen to the teacher and do what they said. He is in a jazz/hip hop class and there is no parent participation and for that alone, I am grateful.