Saturday Dance Club

Saturday is my favorite day. It's the day that I get 45 minutes to myself. Every Saturday morning I get the girls and myself ready and we go and take Emerson (my oldest daughter) to dance class. Now I know what you are thinking, how is going to the park district fun? This is Emerson's third year in dance and she has been in the class with the same little girls for 3 years. So when the girls go to class, the moms sit out and just talk about our weeks.

Now when this all started I was pregnant with Vivienne (my youngest and last child). We weren't sure about this dance thing, it was really expensive. Matt (the husband) was going to school at the time so we really didn't have any money to spare. My mother insisted that Emerson needed to have extra-curricular activities and dance was perfect. She paid for it. The first day of dance we dressed Emerson in her dance outfit and off we went. There were other moms there but they all seemed to know each other and we didn't know anyone. I was the first of my friends to have children and I work full time so I really didn't know any other moms. We just sat away from them and just talked to each other. It took a couple of weeks, eventually we got to know those other moms. We talked about everything, we laughed, we comforted, we cheered loudly on recital day. The problem was that we were really only friends for 45 minutes on Saturdays. When the class ended we went our separate ways and never really talked throughout the summer.

The next fall, we signed Emerson up for 2 dance classes. These were back to back on Friday nights at another Park District building. The first day we went we didn't see anyone we knew but from experience, I was able to talk to new people and try to make friends. (Something that I really wasn't able to do before) When Emerson's second dance class started in walked the other moms!!!! I was very excited and we sat on the floor outside the dance class and picked up where we had left off. This time we exchanged phone numbers and occasionally talk on the phone. We also started inviting each others children to birthday parties and other events. We were developing a friendship. We became "stage moms" together laughing and cheering for our own and each others kids on recital day. When the class ended for the year we called each other to make sure we were all in the same class next year.

This year we are back in the original place, which we love because we can actually sit in seat instead of the floor and this place is air conditioned in the hot months.

There was a problem early in the year. We had all gone to the first 2 classes and we were so happy that we were all together again. The friendship was really developing into something special. Then one Saturday we went to dance and I didn't see any of the other moms. This class was at 10:45am and was over at 11:30am, I knew that one of the other moms did the back to back classes with this one being the first class. I sat there by myself and when class was over I took Emerson and Vivienne into the bathroom to change. When we came out I saw the other mom. I went up to her and asked where everyone else was? She told me that they all changed classes to the next level up and that the new class didn't start until 12:15pm. I was devastated!!! I had really counted on this budding friendship because I had a falling out with my former best friend the previous weekend and we are no longer friends. I had been OK with the ending of that friendship because of the new friends in which I had more in common. Now they were gone. It was still too early to be calling them and try to make plans, we were really taking things very slow. I walked out of dance crying. I put everyone and everything in the car, but because I was so upset, I left my Chandlers on the top of the car and drove off without it. ( I will have to explain the Chandlers in another blog, but it is REALLY important to me) I cried for about a week, and the next weekend Matt took us on a road trip so we had missed dance that week. The next week I was determined to make the best of it and make friends with the moms in the early class. I sat there and tried to talk to another mom who was screaming at her kids and then turned around and spanked one of them in front of me!!!! I could not be friend with this woman and I looked around to see if I could find anyone else, but there wasn't anyone else. Finally, the class was over and Emerson came running out. She told me that the teacher wanted to talk to me. I went in there wonder what Emerson had done now and the teacher informed me that she wanted to move Emerson up to the next level!!!! I was so excited, but I didn't want to show it too much. I hmmed and hawed when she looked up the time of the class. I then told her that would be fine and showed up the next week at 12:15 with all the other moms!!!! Since then, I have been trying to push our relationship a little farther and we are all starting to see each other outside the dance class.

We are so happy together.