Last weekend I spent a 50 hour weekend in Milwaukee. Most of that time in the Milwaukee Theatre watching our kids dance their little hearts out at Groove Competition with a few breaks for sleep and Starbucks. And, as crazy as that sounds, I would not have wanted to be anywhere else than right there with our teachers and families celebrating the accomplishments of the kids.
We watched elementary students compete for the first time and seniors perform their final solos. The whole weekend was a marathon of getting ready, changing costumes, rehearsing, cheering, encouraging, and even consoling when a dance didn’t go as planned.
After a three hour drive home, we finally hit our own beds at midnight.
The next day, the world picked right back up where I had left it on Friday afternoon–busy, busy, busy. Emails and costume exchanges, lunches to pack and laundry to fold. It was as if I had never left. But, I HAD left for three days and the family felt my absence.
I was torn between heading out to the studio and staying home for family. We are only three weeks from recital. It’s GO time at the studio and I feel the pressure of the pending shows keenly.
And, I decided.
Sometimes in the middle of recital and competition season you just have to sit in hammock with a fuzzy blanket and listen to your 7-year old read “Brown Bear, Brown Bear” and take in the sweetness. Snuggling my little boy seemed like the VERY BEST use of my time on the day after competition. I can always watch another rehearsal or make another call, but I’ll never get a second chance to raise my kids:)
See you tomorrow, studio.
