Ballet and Family Reading Night

Tonight, Mommy and Daddy (and all the other parents) were invited into the room to watch ballet class in action.  Daddy snapped a squillion pictures, but wasn't too obnoxious with the camera.  It wouldn't have mattered because all the other parents were holding up their cell phones to snap photos and take movies as well.

Madison is excellent with understanding what comes next, and the overall mechanics of ballet.  There's a lot to memorize, and she seems to have most of it down pat.  In just a few short months, she's learned a whole lot of French words that Daddy is clueless about (ones that Mommy knows by heart).

There were moments of wonderful grace, particularly towards the end of class when the children were invited to dance freely during one song.  Madison spun, extending her hands, looking upward and smiling, twirling and then leaping forward with her hands still extended and her toes pointed forward.  And then there are other times where you sit there and crack up inside, where jumping is not necessarily about grace and beauty, but attempts to get as much altitude as possible.  In fact, at one point when the children were lined up in three rows, about to do maneuvers across the studio, one student got down in a track and field position, ready to race the others across the floor!  She was quickly reminded that this wasn't a race.  It's funny though, because most of these kids have other activities going on - maybe that little girl was on her way to soccer practice after this.  For her part, Madison was paying attention and doing well for the first hour or so.  The class stretches beyond that, and most of the children were starting to fade towards the end, and part of this can be blamed on Daylight Savings Time, I feel.  There were yawns, and looks out the window - how could it be dark already?  It's just the time difference, kids.

Still, overall, it was so much fun to sit and watch.  None of the parents were squirming, or looking at their watches.  And when we left, we felt very content about Madison's progress.  She's learning the mechanics, and she's learning to express herself through dance.

IMMEDIATELY after this, we went back to school.  Tonight was "Family Reading Night," which as you can see below had an "Oz" theme.

That's Madison's teacher in between Oz and Glinda.  They were reading two different stories, one from the land of Oz, and another non-fiction book about tornadoes.  Kids were encouraged to answer questions that probed deeper into the story, asking the five "w's:"  Who, what, where, when and why?  Parents were handed all kinds of printed material, as the learned different ways to enhance their children's reading abilities at home.

And there was free pizza.  That was a big selling point for Madison.

But we did enjoy the event, although it was pretty late for her getting back home.  We got right to bed when all was said and done, but Madison said she had a great time there.  Before bed, of course we read.  We're nearly done with our Winnie the Pooh series, which has been fun to read, and soon after that, Madison was sleeping comfy under her warm blankets.

Daddy and Mommy went downstairs for another Christmas special from 1960 - this one was "Babes in Toyland" from the Shirley Temple Show.  It is slightly different, of course.  It featured Jonathan Winters and Jerry Colonna, and Joe Besser too.  All were great in this - there's just something about live television, a crazy energy.

Speaking of "energy," Daddy needs to find some more.  It's not that late, but both he and Mommy are off to bed to get some rest.  We've been enjoying our Christmas-themed mornings though - today we got a whole lot more wrapping done.  I'd say by the end of next week, we'll be 95% done with it all, and that's saying a lot!  So maybe we've earned our long winter's nap.  It has been a full day, and just looking back on these photos from the day, I can't complain!