Dancing queen of hearts

Sydney had fun. And that's all that matters, right?

Never mind that after paying for lessons all year long, and then shelling out a ridiculous amount of money for a dance recital costume, we had to pay $10 each, including for AJ, to sit in the back of a sweltering hot gymnasium for more than an hour. All to get a glimpse of our little princess who appeared on stage for approximately three minutes.

At least the safety pins I used to properly criss cross the straps on her costume (because merely tying them behind her neck apparently isn't good enough) held strong.

If the audio system in the gym was any good, I suspect I would have heard them instruct us to not use video cameras or flash photography. But considering the woman on stage sounded more like Charlie Brown's teacher (Wha-WHA-wha-wah...) I couldn't be sure, and so I recorded it just in case. I suppose coming soon will be another opportunity for me to spend money on an overpriced DVD of the performance.

Unfortunately, I'm once again unable to upload the video to this site. But I've got it saved for anyone who wants to share in the magic of little girls colliding with each other while staring at the wings for guidance from their teacher of what to do next.

I will say that of the three classes of 3-5 year olds, Sydney's was the best. Based on all of the performances, her teacher clearly was the best instructor and choreographer.

AJ was not too thrilled to have to sit through the long performance. I told him it was payback for the many, many hockey, baseball and soccer games that Sydney has endured for him. He did seem somewhat inspired by a few of the performances and even suggested he'd like to take tap dance lessons next year. Jeff agreed, if AJ was willing to give up hockey.

I'm pretty sure skates will win out over tap shoes.

When it was all over and I was able to retrieve Sydney, we were presented a "Certificate of Achievement in Dance for _____". Yup. Consistent with the big league nature of everything that went with this performance, they didn't bother filling in any of the students' names.

But at least Sydney had fun. And her costume didn't fall apart. And we're done for the year.

And really, that's all that matters, right?