Ballet!

Emmelia, at this very moment, is starting her very first ballet class. Oh my goodness, was she ever excited last night when we (finally!) found some ballet slippers her size and she tried on her leotard, tights and slippers outfit. She was prancing around the house with actual ballet moves that I have no idea where she learned. I suspect there's been a lot of talk about ballet among the 4 year old girls at preschool. As soon as I even brought up the subject of a ballet class, she told me she needed slippers and a leotard. So she's not the neophyte in these matters I expected her to be.

I can't wait to get a full report from her! I think I might actually get one, too, which makes it more exciting. Until the past couple of weeks, every time I'd ask her how her day went at preschool it was always the same: "I played with my friends." Period, end of story. Lately, though, she's been getting into telling us full versions of events in excruciating detail. It's adorable for now, although I give it less than a year before I wish we could go back to simple descriptive sentences.

The only reason Emmelia's able to do this class is because the stay-at-home parent of a friend of hers is willing to pick her up at school and take both girls to the class. At first I felt a little angst at that - like I'm a bad mom for not being able to take my children to daytime classes. But then I realized that the only reason I'm able to afford this class is by working and I came to my senses. It does annoy me that so many music, gymnastics, and dance classes cater only to families with a stay-at-home parent. It's nearly impossible to find classes for preschoolers in the evenings or on weekends around here. But that's a rant for another time. Next Monday I'm off work and I'll be able to go with Emmelia to that class and do the "Mom" thing with the camera. And, frankly, she'll probably get more out of the classes if she's not distracted by having me around all the time.