I Hope You Dance

My little Aidan has dazzled me again. He got up on stage today, the youngest member of his hip-hop dance class (and the only boy), and danced his little heart out. Sure, it was hard to discern any actual dance moves in all of the jumping about, but that's not the point:

He did it. Fearlessly. And he loved it. And it showed. 

So even though I'm now convinced that suburban dance studios are first cousins to beauty pageants (no eight-year-old should look that much like a Vegas showgirl), I'm happy he got to have the experience. 

I hope he holds onto that feeling of joy that comes from putting your heart into something. 

And I hope he learns to breakdance.  

A Star is Born

Yes, my friends, a future Broadway star has been born. Aidan had his holiday dance recital yesterday and surprised himself (though not the rest of us) with the intensity of his love for the spotlight. 

He's performed before, but when kids are 3 or 4, "recitals" tend to consist of large groups of children sort of milling about the stage. Even in his highly-structured circus performance last spring, he was just one of about 20 kids all performing the same tumbles and tricks. But yesterday was different...

His hip-hop dance class did their routine to "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch," and as the lone boy in the class, he was singled out to play The Grinch. I'll admit that I thought this might mean they wanted him to stand and look on while the more rhythmically gifted members of the class did the actual dancing, but no, it turns out the role earned him a few extra special moves. 

At one point he was actually encircled by the group of kneeling girls -- totally Frank Sinatra-style ("all those chicks 'round my feet") -- while he stood, pointing at himself to indicate how important he was. This is how dreams of stardom are born. 

But the best part of course, was how proud he was of his performance. "I was a little nervous," he explained after the show, "but then I just lost all my nerves! And I wasn't nervous at all!" He's a natural.

So Much

Whew! Yesterday was a big day. The boys even had to go to bed half an hour earlier than usual so they could recover...and so I could watch the first disc of season 2 of Weeds. (Next disc is coming today!)

The first day of kindergarten wasn't our only big event. We also had the first day of Aidan's hip-hop dance class. Owen had a last-minute fit of feeling left out, which broke my heart, but I know it's for the best. Synchronized choreography and Owen will probably never be friends. Solo freestyle breakdancing? Maybe. Anyway, I signed Owen up for his own piano class for 5-year-olds (somehow they teach a group of kids piano all at once), which he is excited about -- and which came in handy when the well-meaning mothers at dance class asked why he wasn't participating.

The other big event of the day was the teenager's birthday present: tickets to the Rage Against the Machine concert -- on his birthday, during the Republican National Convention, no less (could there be a better time to see RATM?). As expected, the concert ended in a vaguely political, rock-fueled riot. The closest the teenager came to the riot was being stuck in the traffic it caused, which I think is a good thing as I'm not ready for middle-of-the-night phone calls from the police station. 

The euphoria of seeing a really good rock show was still with him this morning. Let's hope his life has been changed in some small way for the better. 

So after all that, do I get to lounge around the house in sweatpants today? No. Today brings the first day of swimming lessons. I am dumb. I've turned into one of those mothers who over-schedules her kids...only it happened unintentionally. I want them to learn to swim for safety reasons, but Aidan really wanted to take hip-hop dancing, which left Owen in need of a counter balance activity. And here I am with lessons three days a week. Someday I will learn how to say no to learning experiences without feeling like I'm cheating my kids...but not today. 

Extracurriculars

Even though it’s barely even July, I already I have to figure out what the boys are doing this fall. I mean, in addition to kindergarten (!), of course.

The easy answer would be “nothing.” They don’t have to be involved in any extracurriculars…it would be cheaper and less chaotic to be sure. Except, Aidan really wants to learn hip-hop dancing (thank you, “So You Think You Can Dance”) and I feel compelled to balance out Aidan’s activity by signing Owen up for something.

Plus, now that they are five I’m trying to encourage separate interests when possible. They are already SO competitive over everything, that I think it would be good for them each to have their own “thing.” However, figuring out what those “things” should be is proving difficult, as Aidan wants to try everything and Owen has a “me too!” attitude about everything Aidan does.

I’m trying to decide whether or not to put Owen in a social skills class (that is, if I can find one without a waitlist). I know it’s something he needs to work on, but part of me thinks he gets better practice when thrown into activities with “typical” kids. I’m not saying learning to hold a real conversation isn’t a valuable skill, but I’m wondering if it’s a skill he could build on while also learning something else.

As usual, I feel underqualified to make these decisions…but my gut is telling me we should try him out on piano. Concert pianists don’t really need to be good conversationalists, right?

**Special note: Check out Judith's Autismville blog today. See? I'm not crazy! Or, at least, it's going around...the more the merrier, I say.**