Hip Hopping Through Life

Dancing with the feet is one thing,

but dancing with the heart is another.

~ Unknown

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Daughter of the year #1 has been begging us to take a dance class.  I sit back, proud that she may follow in some of my foot steps.  Dad of the year?  Well, he sits back wondering what this will cost him.  So, we started slow.  We enrolled her in a simple class, not at a dance studio, for Hip Hop.  

Why Hip Hop?  Well, we've been down that ballet route.  Grace, extension, and good turnout are not words I would use to describe daughter of the year #1.  I love her with all my being but seriously folks, after one ballet class I knew this was not for her.  Hip Hop is different movement.  It's funky.  It's fun.  It's just like playing Just Dance on the Wii.  Right up her alley!  Her first class was this week.  

To say she was excited would be an understatement.  She counted down the days.  She asked at least 15 times when the class would start.  She planned what she would wear very carefully.   She pretty much drove us nuts.  

Now, while I travel on my endless pursuit for mom of the year, I come across many other mothers on the same path.  I am certainly not criticizing another parent for the way they choose to...well...travel on their path.  It doesn't mean I won't enjoy watching them push another parent out of the way to get a better position in their pursuit.  

The first day, we parents got to watch.  It was my first exposure to a real life dance mom which I really didn't think I would find in a simple class.  In a matter of 16 minutes, that woman managed to suck any and all fun out of dance.  She wasn't just a dance mom, she was a dance mom to a son.  That poor kid didn't know his right from his left (I'd like to report that when told to raise their right hand, my own daughter of the year raised her left).  I am certainly no dance expert but I have both participated and coached dance enough to know the deck was stacked against this kid.  But, if an award were given for flair and fun, this kid was winning HANDS DOWN!!!!  He was having fun, regardless of the many shouts from his mother to "get it right."  

As the class ended, daughter of the year #1 had new moves and increased confidence.  I was proud of her for trying something new and going for it whole-heartedly.  As we left the room, I overheard dance mom getting angry with her son for not knowing the moves and then heard her apologizing to the instructor for his "lack of know-how."  I felt bad for him.  It was just the first day!  My own daughter of the year #1 is not graceful.  She is not really that coordinated.  She doesn't know her left from her right (well, some days).  I don't keep any of those opinions from her but that doesn't mean I give up on her altogether.  I know as children, there are enough pressures without adding more as a parent.  

So, while I watched this other mother struggling on her own pursuit I realized, my endless pursuit for mom of the year is just that...mine!  The issues I face as a parent, the turmoil I feel between work and him, the many mistakes I make are no fault of either daughters of the year.  We just continue to learn and adapt every day.  Just now we're doing that learning to Hip Hop music.