Mommy & Me Ballet Recital 2020

 

2019-2020 was our second year of doing Mommy & Me Ballet at Sterling Studio of Performing Arts. This class has been so good to us the past two years and I am so immensely glad I started us in at when Ellie turned one year. She has grown, changed, and learned so much in these two years of dance. She LOVES ballet. I mean she genuinely loves adores it. She goes around the house singing as if she were in an opera with the shrilliest but cutest little voice, "I am a Ballerina!!!!" She says "ballyrainuh." She is aways doing ballet and her favorite music in the world is Swan Lake composed by Tchaikovsky. We listen to this ballet composition on repeat in the car at her request. It's funny too because I themed her bedroom as swan lake and had no idea it would become her most loved "thing." 

This year of dance Ellie was confident, bold, silly, and happy every class. She LOVES ballet class. She loves her teachers. 2020 had other plans for our recital. I believe we went from having a large handful of mommy and daughter duos with whom we were going to be dancing alongside. But if 2020 has been consistent about anything, it has been...inconsistent. As all "non-essential" businesses were shut down for so many weeks and social distancing became the thing of Spring...our May end of year recital was postponed. In August, we were able to resume and our recital went from a large handful, to three moms and daughters, to just me and Ellie. And honestly...that was a big blessing for us. I think it made it far more special. Especially as this was our last recital together....and I'm about to cry....it's not that I'm sad not to dance anymore or so much that I'll miss the class....it's that I am so sad she is growing up so quickly to the point she can dance without me. She can continue on to do big girl things. That age of "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy!!!" is already fleeting so quickly. I LOVE Mommy and Me and I LOVE bonding with my daughter and doing things with her. So even if I have to look silly or be totally all out on a stage dancing and yes...even messing up doing the most basic dance (hahaha, it happened!) then I am so on board because it means I get to make these incredible memories with my precious baby girl who is growing up insanely fast. 

So, August finally came, and we finally got to perform at the recital which was fabulous and handled like bosses by the sterling Studio staff and volunteers. Just me and Ellie. And y'all....Ellie just totally blew me away...oh my word I'm so emotional over here because I am so proud of her...she went from never allowing me to put her down because she was so unsure, to having no issues to being on stage and showing out for all to see in her beautiful precious, doll like costume and I got to be part of that and share in that with her. 2020 can be a blessing if you let it...if you look for God, you WILL find Him (you shall find Him when you seek Him with all your heart) and I saw God on a stage beside me, a "spoonful of sugar" Ellie, and a Mary Poppins me. 

I took my role as Mary Poppins seriously and dressed the part. We danced to "Spoonful of Sugar" from Mary Poppins. Ellie wore a white costume and was therefore, the sugar! Haha! 

My entire family except my brother were able to come. He was to start law school the next day and they live about 4 hours away so we missed him but understood. (Boy, do we understand!! Graduation is in 8 months for Eric!!) It was so special to have them there. My sister drove in just for the recital...just for Ellie! Best aunt EVERRRR! 

Eric gave Ellie flowers and took us all out for pizza....'cause this mama needed grease and cheese. We gave Ellie an "Ella Bella Ballerina" book as her gift for a great year of dance! 

At the end of the recital, we came back on stage with all the dancers for our curtsy and THEN SURPRISE!!! "POP!!" CONFETTI EVERYWHERE!!! EEEK!! We loved this equally, I think, as we jumped around in it, dancing, throwing it up high and over our heads, dancing, twirling, and jumping all in it just celebrating this accomplishment of this year together and perseverance through all that the devil wanted to do to ruin things in 2020. It was a blessing to do this recital alongside my daughter. I will deeply, dearly miss this next year but I cannot wait to also melt into the warm pride and joy of a parent watching their child growing more and more and becoming more talented, successful, grown, and happy most of all. I want to cheer her on in all the aspects of her life, primarily in her relationship with Jesus which I pray will be the biggest and most important part of her life. If you contemplate doing things like this with your child...just do it. I don't care what your reservations are....do it. No words can explain how special and rare and short lived these opportunities are with your child before they are grown. Grasp the moments. Wear the costume, be silly, put yourself out there, make your child smile. Bond. 

Here is to the next dance season upcoming and all the moments I get to cheer on and smile about my girl! Thank You, God, for blessing our 2020.