SOLSC 25 of 31 - Dance Parties and Fairy Dances

Join me this month as I write a slice of my life each day this March and join many others sharing slices at twowritingteachers.com.  My 6-8th grade students are also be slicing this month and you can find links to their daily blogs HERE.

"Let's dance dad!" Clara exclaims as I get dressed for the day. She's wearing her kitty, footy pajamas and already pushing the buttons my my clock radio. After skipping past several stations with morning DJs talk, she lands on that start of AC/DC's Highway to Hell. 

Since anything with a fast beat counts as dance party music to her (which leads to more Justin Bieber than I'd care to admit I listen to), we start boogieing down. She jumps, dips and spins with the music with occasional one-fotted poses for balance like a ballerina. I finish buttoning my shirt and groove with her. Our favorite place to dance is in in front of the full length mirror so we can see ourselves and the smiles on the other's face. 

Of course, to really get us smiling, she runs up and holds my hands and we start jumping in circles. Each jump I lift her a little higher until she is ming truly spectacular leaps, zooming around in a circle, until she is flung onto our bed in a bundle of squeals and giggles.  We do this a couple more times and then when the song ends, she negotiates a piggy-back ride downstairs to the breakfast table.


Last night, at the end of bedtime, was even better. Clara, again in her footy pajamas, was also wearing a ballerina tutu, fairy wings and a decorative headband. She directed me to be the audience, put on some "Sloooow music," and started doing a lovely ballet around the small floor space in her room. The classical CD played softly, her movements were wonderfully timed to the music; and then she started to sing. 

The singing voice of a three-year-old, while not particularly in key, is full of passion. She sang about her day, the books she read, adventures she hoped to have, and of course, of being a fairy. She waved her magic wand and described the sparkles that travelled the world and brought happiness to everyone's hearts.

Then she bowed.

I clapped, knowing I had witnessed something special, just for me, as her dad.


Magic Wand photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/bhaven/4035175361/">bhaven</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/">cc</a>