March 4 13

I took ballet as a kid. For ten years.

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I might have even been good, too, but I’ll never know.

Because I quit.

Because I was a stupid teenager.

It was too hard, too time-consuming. And there was a little not-allowed-to-wear-underpants-underneath-the-leotard situation.

When Emily was born and I heard that lovely “It’s a girl!” announcement, the first thing I said was, “God, I can’t wait to put her in a tutu.” Actually, that’s kind of a lie. The first thing I said was actually, “GOD SHE LOOKS LIKE MY MOM!” But moments later, I really did say that thing about the tutu. And I stayed true to my word. Girl was in a tutu almost before she could speak.

mouse-emily

We started in ballet, but when I realized that, well, she was actually good, we moved to a new dance school, and a new dance. We moved her to the Vibe Dance Studio in the Toronto nosebleeds, and we switched her to hip hop. And we have never looked back.

girls-vibe

She’s a small Jewish girl who likes to dance, she will never be on Dance Moms. But dancing weekly is good for her self-esteem. It’s good for her body. And it’s fun—she loves it. A few weeks ago, an amazing opportunity came up, and we jumped at the chance.

Dancing at the halftime show at a Raptors game.

She leads a charmed life, my kid.

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She’s the wee one all the way on the left. If you squint hard enough you can see her.

But you’ll need no squinting at all to be proud of her.

I know I don’t.

(Thanks Marnie and Rena for this amazing opportunity. The Martells are big, big fans of everything you do for our girls and for everyone else. Thanks, also, for the video that we, uh, lifted a little bit.)

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  1. Nothing makes my face hurt (in a good way) as much as watching my kids dance. Yes, that’s right….kids. All of ’em. Boy hip hopper included. To be moved by music and have an outlet for expression, is a true gift.

    Amazing video!

    Comment by Louise on March 4, 2013
  2. I’m going to do a little devil’s advocating here, because this is an issue near and dear to me (and is more related to your fb comment than the actual post).

    I danced for 14 years. I wanted to quit after about 4, but my mother wouldn’t let me because it was good for my body and kept me busy and all the good reasons, that I totally and completely understand. But I hated it and it destroyed my self esteem instead of boosted it. It also meant I couldn’t play other sports that I wanted to try- softball, basketball, etc, because dance came first.

    I don’t think that dance is an inherently bad thing by any means, but if she grows to dislike it, just keep in mind that quitting isn’t the worst thing that could happen.

    Comment by Katie on March 4, 2013
  3. Please to be ignoring the comma after reasons. I did a which/that switch but failed to delete a comma.

    Comment by Katie on March 4, 2013
  4. Uh. She doesn’t want to quit…not even a little bit. The thing I wrote on Facebook was just a teaser?

    Comment by Alimartell on March 4, 2013
  5. Sorry. The “I won’t let my kid quit” comment just got my brain going.

    Comment by Katie on March 4, 2013
  6. Yeah. I get that. 100%

    But that wasn’t at all what this about at all…If she ever wanted to quit, that’s a whole different discussion.

    But, I’ll be honest, if it was for the underwear reason, I don’t think I’d let her quit.

    Comment by ali on March 4, 2013
  7. That is SO awesome! I was such a tomboy, I wish I would have taken dance. Because then I would not be freaking out so much about the flash mob!

    But I love going to watch my niece in her recitals! It’s so awesome! And she loves it so much! Almost as much as Emily loves to dance!

    Comment by Kristabella on March 4, 2013
  8. She is so amazing. I love her drive and focus. Is she bad at ANYTHING? Ha.

    Comment by Heather on March 4, 2013
  9. I love it! I can’t wait to show my Emily the video after school.

    Comment by Angella on March 4, 2013
  10. Awwww. What an awesome experience for her to get to have.

    And, um, I used to do gymnastics, and although it wasn’t THE reason I gave it up, there was a “little not-allowed-to-wear-underpants-underneath-the-leotard situation,” at one point, SO I GET WHAT YOU ARE SAYIN’.

    Comment by aly on March 4, 2013
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