Firsts

Last week, was Madeleine's first day of preschool for the fall term and the first dance class ever. She started at Millersburg Preschool last fall after she turned three and we could not be happier with the teacher, the school, and the MPS community. Miss Sherri is a once-in-a-lifetime kind of teacher and we are so blessed to have her.

After looking at several other studios, including some in Jeff and Columbia, I decided to enroll her in Janet's Dance Studio in Fulton. There are other, bigger, and more competition-focused studios, but for a three-year-old just starting out, Janet's is just fine. We have to go to Jeff and Columbia often enough, it's nice to have something ten minutes away. My sister and I danced for Janet's studio for a couple of years when we were little, so it's cool to have that connection, too. She's in the 4-5 year old class, but I wasn't a bit worried about her hanging with older girls. She'll be 4 soon anyway, and she's friendly and assertive enough for it not to bother her. She walked right in and sat down smack in the middle of the dance floor. There were small pieces of tape for the girls to sit on in rows, but as this was our first time, Madeleine didn't know the rules. She sat in the middle for a couple seconds, then scooted over to be right next to another little girl who was sitting in the front row by herself. The instructors are two teenage girls with few social skills - we'll see how this works out - but they do seem to connect well enough with the little girl. After they got Madeleine on her own piece of tape, Noah and I were pretty well forgotten. I told her good bye, I'm not sure if she heard me or really cared. I heard her talking the entire time as I hung out behind the curtain in the waiting area for a few minutes and then left. I figured they'd spend the first class getting to know the rules, the instructors, the other girls, stretching, etc, but when I got back, there was music playing and they were working on some tap steps already! The studio doesn't require dance wear or shoes until October, to make sure the families don't make a huge investment and then it turns out the kids don't like it. Several of the other girls had tap and ballet shoes from last year and were using them already. She came out looking happy, and asking if I had her dance shoes, so I think it was a good experience. Madeleine talks a lot, but it takes her a few hours or days to process things, so she wasn't ready to talk too much about the class at first, but since then, we've heard quite a bit. The instructors taught the girls a little cheer to say at the end of class: "We're smart, we strong, and we love to dance!".

First day of MPS. I french braided her hair! (She wanted "Dorothy" hair) And, they stayed in all day!

Noah had to get in the picture, too.

In her dance gear with McDuff, who is visiting us from preschool for the weekend.

Of course, her hair had to be in a bun, and she had to wear pink tights.