Happy Sunday everyone,
                             I was blessed to be able to have Hannah home over the Easter break.  We had so much fun having our family back together again.  While she was home we stirred up a little nostalgia and decided to watch some old dance videos.  WoW!!!! There should be a disclaimer when doing this that says, "watch at your own risk, emotions may surface and cause serious crying and emotional distress."  At any rate, we basked in the glory that once was and enjoyed watching, reminiscing, crying, laughing and loving each and every dance we watched.  One of the dances in particular made Hannah just well up with tears.  The dance was "These Hands" choreographed by Jackie Ford for the graduating seniors.  These girls had danced together for more than 12 years and have been through so many ups and downs, joy and sorrow, and became like sisters.  I am going to post it on this blog and what I would love everyone to think about is that this was a culmination of a long journey that has ended differently for each of these girls.  In fact, they have all embarked on new journeys that they are able to take because of what they learned together.  Remember to enjoy the journey and take every moment to heart.  Whether there is laughter or tears, learn from each moment.  You can even look back on the hard moments and laugh and shake your head and say, "Wow, I learned so much from this."  Even now with Addison and Chandler I still have to shake my head at myself and remember that it is all part of the journey.  So with that, I hope you enjoy this video as much as I do. Remember, we are all in this together.

Just click on the link to enjoy:    http://youtu.be/2hfrFCfHxlk

           I am so sorry.... I have been MIA the last two weeks.  Things have been a little nutty around my household so I had to put the blog aside for a little while.  I have been thinking a lot about some things that may be of interest to all you readers out there.  I thought I would take a minute to do a blog on gratitude.
            I have been doing a lot of soul searching, praying, pondering about life, kids, family, etc....  It is a difficult road to go down when you start thinking so hard about things.  I have come to realize that I don't always like looking back on life experiences, or soul searching about things I can improve on.   I have way too much to work on.  Let's just save all that for another blog.  However, through all this thinking there has always been one constant in every situation.  I have an abundance of  support from friends and family in every aspect of my life.  I have been blessed to have parents, siblings, in-laws, cousins, aunts, and uncles that all support my kids in all that they do.  I am in awe of the amount of love and interest they have in my life and my kids life.  One way they show interest is by showing up to any dance competitions, concerts, show cases they can.  If they can't make it they are sure to ask how it went.  I have received financial support as well.  We all know that dance and any other kids activities can cost exuberant amounts of money.  I am so blessed that I have been able to keep my kids involved in their activities due to the financial support.  I know I am not the only one who feels this way.  That being said, I would love to hear from any of you about a time or many times when you have felt gratitude for the support you received for your kids and the dreams they are following.  It doesn't just have to be about dance. I know many of you have kids involved in activities other than dance.  Please Please Please share.  I know others would love to hear your stories.

Remember, we are all in this together.

Have you ever??????

             Have you ever questioned all that we do and sacrifice as parents for our dancers?  Do you ever start to feel insecure about all of the cost, time, sacrifice of time from other family members, etc... Sometimes I feel like this is the best thing for my daughters and then sometimes I feel like, "what the heck am I doing all this for?"  I actually have been feeling extra insecure lately for different reasons that are too personal for me to share at this time.  I shared with another dance mom the inner conflict that I have from day to day and told her I feel like I must be crazy.  She shared that she has felt the same way at times.  Not only did I secretly enjoy that someone else felt the way I did, I started thinking all day today that there must be more moms that feel this way at one time or another.
                I know that there are so many valuable lessons that these dancers learn and that the journey should only be about your dancer and her individual progress and growth.   The only problem is that I am not perfect.   I realized that every time I start feeling insecure about my dancer's progress and wether or not all the money, time and sacrifice is worth it, it is because I start comparing her to other dancers.  I hate to admit that I do this because it sounds so wrong.  Playing the comparison game is dangerous.  I have learned first hand that it is only damaging and hurtful if we are not careful.  I also hate admitting that I have had to learn this the hard way.
               Since I have been going over all of these thoughts and feelings in my head  I want to share what we did this last weekend because I think it is important to this topic.  As a lot of you know, my oldest daughter/dancer Hannah is the lead dancer/character of a  motorcycle stunt show.  I know it sounds different and it is just that.  Although this ended up being more acting than dancing, much to Hannah's dismay, it has been an amazing learning experience for her.  Anyway, she had a performance in San Jose this last weekend.  We decided we were going to make the extremely long 13 1/2 hour drive there on a Friday, spend the day with Hannah on Saturday, watch the show Saturday night only to turn around on Sunday morning to come home and endure that painfully long drive again.  My brother and his family came from southern California as well.  Is it worth it?  When we walked into the backstage/vip area for the meet and greet that the riders, dancers, acrobats, and Shoalin warriors do for people attending the show, her face lit up.  We stood back and watched people walk up to her and almost get tongue tied to ask to take a photo with her, or tell her how beautiful she is or how much they love the show.  With every person that approached her, she looked over to see if we were watching.  Her face lit up every time and I could see the excitement exuding from her and my pride could not have been more obvious than a .  My 19 year old daughter has traveled for 12 weekends with this show and has 3 more to go and she is doing amazing.  So let me ask again, is it worth it? YES!!!!!!!!! It was worth the 26 plus hour drive and money it took to get there just to spend one day with Hannah and see the smile on her face and watch her perform.

                 I think it is normal to feel insecure and question what we are doing.  I think it keeps us in check.  I don't know what the future holds for either of my dancers.  What I do know is that any time i talk about maybe not doing dance anymore with Addi, she absolutely looses it.  You'd think I asked her to cut off her right arm.  Addison has made it very clear that she loves the girls, the teachers, and atmosphere and she will never quit.  When I see Hannah working in a professional field that she loves and making a living, I can see the value.   Will every dancer work professionally in dance? Probably not.   That die hard attitude and work ethic that has helped Hannah move on to working, college and being on her own is exactly what Addison is learning right now.  I guess you can say we are making an investment into their future.   If that future doesn't involve dance, you can rest assured that whatever it does involve they will have an amazing work ethic and discipline that will pull them through hard times and bring them to successful times.  
                  I don't know if I will ever stop questioning.  In fact I know that as long as I am part of a competitive world with any of my kids, the human in me will sometimes question if it is all worth it.  I guess what I need to remember is that as long as my kids are happy and love what they are doing and are learning important lessons for the future, it is worth it.  Some of you may have to talk me off a ledge periodically and I gladly welcome your help in this area.  I would love to hear from some of you on this topic so please let me know how you handle this inner conflict.
               Remember we are all in this together!!!!!!!!!