The One and Only E

Our family has entered a new phase.  Something new.  Something intense. Something uniquely crazy.

Dance Competition.

We experienced E's first competition yesterday and I've already learned, or at least realized, a few things for the next one:

*Groups of screaming girls will always overwhelm me.  And hurt my ears.

*Dress light and comfortable.  Between costume changes, make-up applications, pinning, sewing, fixing, anxiety, lugging baggage, snacks, stress, cheering, screaming girls (see above)....etc., I will be a sweaty mess!

*A bag that requires a check-list to pack is guaranteed to stress me out.

*Keeping track of all the knick-knacks of multiple costumes is guaranteed to stress me out.

*I will never be ashamed of being the mama who screams and hollers for her girl on stage. E pretends to be embarassed.  I wouldn't really care if she was.  

*Some form of caffeine is a must!  Exhausting, I tell ya!  

*I get weepy when E dances.  It's nerdy.  It's embarassing.  It's just ....what it is, I guess.

*I REALLY need to figure out how to get a good picture of Ella on stage.  My photo skills are SEVERELY lacking!

E and her darling dance buddies practice for hours. They were amazing!  E works so hard and it's so fun to have her hard work pay off and to watch her love something so much.  

Bottom line is this:  It is insanely amazing to watch your kids do something they are honestly good at.
This is new for me and I am loving it so far.