I really have to brag on Charlie today. After last week’s ballet class, the teacher Ms. Leslie, announced that all of the mommies would need to sit in the waiting room the following week so the girls wouldn’t be distracted. I thought that this would be a tremendous failure. Charlie has been so clingy in class that I assumed there was no way she would ever participate in class if I wasn’t sitting in there.
Boy, was I wrong! This morning I set her down next to her friend Emilyn and did a disappearing act…and found that as long as she couldn’t make eye contact with me through the glass (I ended up sitting near the wall and Ms. Kim was my look-out) she was great! She actually participated (as much as any 2 year old would) and had a smile on her face the whole time. It was amazing!! I was a little concerned about what would happen if Charlie couldn’t keep her hands to herself (a.k.a. if she smacked some other little girl) but then thought about preschool, etc. and figured that if someone chooses to teach 2 year olds they must be prepared to deal with discipline, acting out, etc., right? I mean, at some point, I have to trust that those “teaching” her know what they’re doing, don’t I?Ms. Leslie handed out dum-dum’s wrapped in paper towels (made to look like ghosts) at the end of class, and you should have seen the look on her face when she emerged with all the other girlies. So proud of herself, she broke into a huge smile, yelled “Mommy, ballet!” and ran over to me, sucker in hand. What a big girl!! Guess you just need to get out of the way and “give them room”, as my friend Kathryn so wisely said.
