Stage Mother

There have been many times that I have been humbled as a parent, Mo never ceases to remind me just who is in charge (her) and who really has their act together (again, her). I am always surprised when I have one of those mother-of-the-year moments. Our adventure on Saturday was just one of these times.

Mo has been in ballet/tap class since last September. Our year-end recital is in a couple of weeks. She is doing a tap dance dressed as a bumblebee (I know, can you see the cuteness). This past Saturday was picture day. She was to arrive at dance class in her costume with the picture envelope filled out. Didn't really seem like that big of deal.

Also, please remember, I do this kind of thing for a living. I have done at least 2 picture days every school year, for the past 15 years. I organize plays, programs, and graduations. I coordinate field trips and parent events.....still didn't help.

The morning of Picture Day, we woke up early...ate a nice breakfast...relaxed....now, we have about 45 minutes to get ready and get going out the door....plenty of time.

I got the brilliant idea that I should give Mo a bath...her hair will look so shiny in the pictures. I didn't think we spent too much time in the bath, but when we get out, we have 15 minutes left to get out the door.

I ask Mo to put on her new, black tights while I get her bumblebee costume ready. I take it out and I realize that there is a 'stinger' that has to be stuffed and attached (somehow) to the back of her costume.....as I am realizing this, I look over at Mo (who has proudly put on her black tights)....who of course sat in the dog bed while she was putting them on....she is covered from the waist down in dog hair.

I try to brush her off while I am frantically searching for something, anything to stuff the stinger with....my best choice is our stash of plastic grocery bags.....then another frantic search for safety pins to attach the stupid thing.

Now, we are officially late. We should've left 5 minutes ago. But, we are at least dressed.

I realize that Mo's hair is still wet...can't do anything with it until it is dried. The hair dryer has been missing since we moved, so that is out. I decide that we just have to get in the car and go.

As we are driving, I roll down all the windows, turn up the heat, and instruct Mo to shake her head in front of the open window.....I know, stellar parenting....

We arrive, late, covered in dog hair, limp stinger that is halfway falling off....but our hair is dry! I put on her antennae headband and send her into class.....

Can't wait to see these pictures.

Questions

Mo is great at conversation.....she loves talking to people. It is very true that she has never met a stranger.....she really can talk to just about anybody!

We were at the community center for swim class the other night. There is a woman with a bird on her shoulder (if you are from Portland, this is not an unusual sighting)....Mo was interested and went over to talk. The woman was really nice and was telling her all about the bird...how old it was....its history, information about the breed. You could tell she took being a parrot owner very seriously, and was acting as a spokesperson for parrot owners all over the world....

After this little informational talk, I asked Mo if she had any questions. Mo looked at the woman, very seriously, and asked, "Are you a pirate?"