First Day (Ever) of Ballet Class

  
I doubt I'm alone in this one, but forgive me if I am. Often, I have it all planned out. I know exactly how a particular day or event is going to go. And then, it happens. And I have no control over it. Everything I had planned for goes completely differently. My ideal vision of what would happen turns into the nightmare I wouldn't dare think of. And I am stuck trying to figure out how to make it work. If I'm lucky, I'll do it with just a tiny bit of grace.

So went Tali's first day of ballet. Class begins at 4:00 and Tali doesn't normally wake up from her nap until at least 4:30. Knowing this, I was prepared. I got Tali in her tights and leotard before her nap. We laid out her skirt and packed up her ballet and tap shoes. Before I woke her, I set her snack out on the table. The plan was to give her a snack while I put the mandatory bun in her hair (lots of rules at this school - specific outfit and hair style). As soon as I woke her up, everything went to hell.

My first-ever bun. Not bad, huh?

Tali: Mommy, I don't want to wear the tights.
Me: Tali, everyone has to wear the tights. All the little girls will be in the same outfit as you.
Tali: But Mommy, I want to see my feet. I want to wear socks!
Me: You can put on socks after class is over.
Tali: (Begins crying) But Mommy....

Somehow, we made it downstairs. She got into her chair and I began making my first-ever bun. (Thanks to the Internet, I learned how to last night.) The child with the super-high pain threshold began crying that the bun hurt her. And then, my nightmare began. It was no longer about the bun. She was crying hysterically and had a million demands. She wanted to put her skirt on. She didn't want to go to ballet. She wanted a different snack. She wanted to go to ballet. She wanted to wear socks over her tights. She didn't want to go to ballet. She didn't want the tights. She wanted water. No, in a different cup. She wanted her friends in her ballet class. She didn't want the bun. She wants to wear the skirt up to her arms. She wanted to go to ballet. And on it went, for FIFTEEN minutes! In the middle of all of this, Eli started crying. No real reason, other than she was crying and it made him cry. So two screaming kids, a dog begging for their snack and we're going to be late.

I took a deep breath, got on my knees, looked Tali in the eye and calmly explained to her, again, that all the little girls must do these things to go to ballet. Once she gets there, she'll see that everyone else looks just like her. I asked her to let me finish her bun and then we would go. She calmed down a bit and we finished up. (Tiny bit of grace, thank you.)

Of course, we were late. I had planned to be there early and take a picture of her standing outside the dance studio. Instead, I got a picture of her petting Jackson in our mudroom. She refused to look at me. Probably because she had red puffy eyes and tear-stained cheeks.

The one picture I was able to sneak of her face. See those eyes?

At the end of class, she was happy. She told me she wanted to go back again next Tuesday. She's been doing "shuffle-step" around the house all evening.
 

Walking out of door after class. Smile on her face, thankfully.

I didn't get the "before" picture so I settled for the "after" picture.