Gracen is my oldest. She’s been taking ballet since she was 2.5 (I’ve blogged about that before) Admittedly when I signed her up for ballet, so very long ago, I really just wanted to live out that mother who has a daughter fantasy. You know the one, don’t you? It’s the fantasy you play in your head the minute you hear it’s a girl, and your Mama mind immediately shifts to tutu’s and ballet shoes. Well, maybe not everyone’s does but this is how my mind works.
I couldn’t have guessed that she’d be good at ballet, but truth be told, watching my child dance makes my heart skip a beat.
I think it has everything to do with the fact that she’s long and graceful, and seemingly not made of my genes.
She’s mature and serious. She loves rules and organization- and ballet is very precise! Gracen is nothing if not precise. She’s a perfectionist who LIVES for discipline…again not me. She’s basically a carbon copy of her Father, and there are elements of me in there I guess, but when she dances her rigorous rules melt away and she is able to turn off the voice in her head that rules her day in and day out.
There is no photo I could post that shows her personality better than these of her dancing ballet.
We have had many talks about why ballet is important. Above all, ballet has nothing to do with me wanting to see her in tutu’s or ballet shoes, it has everything to do with me wanting her to be able to have a practice that she can visit now and later; to center her spirit.
I’m always proud of Gracen; she is this powerhouse of confidence and I am lucky to be her Mother. But as long as I live I’ll believe the magic of parenthood is in the letting go. I watch her dance, alone, without me, and I think, I made that kid. I love that kid. That kid is going to be, a hellofa human.
See the special video I made of Gracen’s dance here:
