First Dance Class

Olivia had her first dance class on Monday.  She's quite the little dancer around the house, and she's been asking to take a dance class.  It took me a while to find the class I wanted her to take - these were my criteria: low key, low commitment, during the morning and something that wouldn't break the bank.  The limiting qualification was that it was in the morning - most dance classes, even for preschoolers, are held the the evenings or on Saturday, which was a no-go for me.  We did find an "academy of ballet" that had classes in the morning, but it seemed a little to formal for what we were looking for (and pricey to boot!)  Finally we found a class held in someone's home, that seems to be just the right fit for us.  She loves her dance clothes, and so I have to keep them put away, or she'd be wearing them every possible moment.  She posed for a few pictures right before her first day:

One funny story: I had purchased the ballet skirt, tights and a black leotard at a yard sale over a year ago (along with some tap shoes which are still too big.)  But she needed a pink leotard and some ballet slippers for her class.  I was running some errands at target, and noticed they had a ballet section in the girls department, where I picked up an extra pair of tights, the pink leo, and some slippers.  When I got home,  I had Olivia try it all on, and that's when I noticed the "ballet" slippers were more like house slippers than anything you would wear to dance class.  After talking to another mom whose daughter is in the class, I decided to return the shoes to target and order some from amazon.  The only problem was they wouldn't arrive in time for class.  I knew the teacher was really easy going, and she had mentioned that the girls didn't even need slippers, so I wasn't worried.  But as Olivia was following her new teacher into their dance room on the first day, she explained, "I don't have any ballet shoes today.  They're on order."  Just the way she said it sounded so grown up, and made me laugh!