So You Think You Can Dance?

Yeah, I did it. I took two toddlers with cold to a mommy and me dance class. I am "that" mom. I just couldn't pass up the opportunity since it was free, just in case it turned out to be the best thing ever. Um...it wasn't!

I started talking to the kids about it yesterday, trying to get them ready for it. And all morning Lyla kept saying "Dance, dance" and I was smiling to myself because I am such a great aunt to take her dancing. And then we actually went to dance class. The first order of business was to sit in a circle on one of the stars the teacher laid out on the floor. The stars were much more fun to pick up and walk around with though, and we were waiting on some stragglers, so not much sitting was occurring. I need to interject here that Drew and Lyla fit right in with about 3/4 of the class as far as "doing their own thing". There were, like always, those miraculously well behaved kids who should be in some sort of children's show because they follow the teacher's moves precisely, but most of the other kids were nuts, too.

Next up, the teacher turned on some music to "warm-up". This included wiggling your toes, touching your nose, clapping, etc. Drew sat stock still through most of it, then finally gave in and wiggled his toes a tiny bit. Lyla did not like the music at all and was yelling, "Off, off!' through most of the song. Usually she thinks it's really funny when I hold her arms and make them do the motions to songs. Not so much today.

The one bright spot in the class was the balance beam. They put out some mats and had a really low to the ground balance beam that the kids could walk across and then jump into a hula hoop. Both kids LOVED this, but, alas, they only got to do it once. We ended class with a dance/freeze game, which basically serves to have all the moms look like total idiots dancing around while their toddlers stare at them in pity. Drew and Lyla did not really dig this game either. At the end, the teacher handed out stickers. I think they would both go back just to get another one!

On a side note, I have a new pet peeve. I'm just saying, if you're going to teach a toddler class of anything (story time, dance, etc.) go ahead and be prepared for toddlers to act like toddlers. Things you should probably NOT expect include: waiting quietly during excessively long transitions, standing in any sort of line, making a circle, pointing their toes out like "penguin feet", not pressing their faces up against the wall length mirror, etc., etc., etc. You may want to be willing to flex- just a little-when your collective audience is all still in diapers!