The Number Field

Mark and I have spoken about getting Elena in dance classes several times. In January, we finally decided to get serious about it. And once I told Elena our plan, there was no going back--she started asking every day about when her class would be.

After several phone calls to different dance studios, Elena and I headed to one last Wednesday for a preliminary class. We walked into the waiting area of the studio to find several other little girls waiting with their moms while the previous class finished up. When the blaring music behind the door stopped, the teacher came out and invited the young girls in. Elena had been hanging on my leg since we walked in and I became concerned that she would be too shy to go with the teacher. But, as soon as the other girls went into the large dance room, Elena went right in too, running with the other girls as if she did this every week. She didn't even look back as I called a goodbye to her.

I felt a bit awkward as I sat in the small waiting area, while the other dance moms talked on their phones and discussed upcoming events at the dance studio. I read my book and tried to make friends with the 2 year old girl sitting next to me on her mom's lap playing on an iPad. I spoke with the studio manager and collected details about the remaining schedule and associated costs. The last five minutes of class, the instructor called the moms into the practice room where we all gathered around the edges. The girls were poised in the middle and as soon as the moms were settled, they performed the dance they had been working on. Although Elena looked like maybe she wanted to do her own dance, she followed a lot of what was going on and looked to be thoroughly enjoying herself. At the end she came running over to give me a hug and tell me how much fun she had! I asked her several times if she wanted to come back and dance some more and each time she enthusiastically responded that she would.

The next morning, she woke up and quickly got dressed on her own and came down to find me in the kitchen feeding Roman. She started twirling around the kitchen and declared she was ready for another dance class! We're excited for Elena's new adventure!