So You Think You Can Dance?

I'm in shock and can not believe that it has been so long since I last posted. Life has been busy between work, the new house, some travel and spending quality time with the little man. I feel like we spent the majority of the summer working on our house, cleaning, packing, and moving. So it was a priority for me once fall came to spend time with the little man in some structured activities. Since he doesn't attend daycare, it is extremely important to me that he spends time around other kids for socialization skills and I don't want him to become too attached to either myself or my husband so that he doesn't learn to become independent and take risks. So far it has never been an issue. When we take him to the park he happily runs up to the other kids on the playground and plays with them. He even tries to strike up a conversation with the other kids, but with this "broken" vocabulary, the other kids have a tendency to look confused and aren't sure what to make of him. It's entertaining to watch none the less.

Last week I signed us up for an early development music class at Eastman School of Music. The class is called Music Times Two and it is a small class of 2 and 3 year old toddlers. There are eight kids total in the class and it runs for 45-50 minutes and for ten weeks. The instructor, Beth, is amazing! She finds a good balance between sitting and more physical activity. She has a number of songs that incorporate the child's name so they feel part of the group. She teaches the kids how to make music with their own body and with small instruments like wooden sticks or shakers. At one point every child and parent was given a bright colored scarf and we danced to James Taylor's "How Sweet It Is to Be Loved By You".

It was amazing to sit and watch the other children in the class and how they reacted to the other kids during the various activities. One little boy refused to join the circle and sat in the corner most of the class. Another little girl just sat on her grandmother's lap and cried in absolute fear for a majority of the class. I felt horrible for these kids. I can just see them telling their therapist in another 15-20 years about the horrible music class their parents made them attend and it scarred them for life.

The little man seemed to do just fine! I was so proud of him! He would watch the instructor and follow her directions and if he wasn't completely sure he would just clap his hands to the beat. He and I had a ball dancing with the scarves while the other kids just stood there not wanting to do anything. The boy really loves to dance! At the end the instructor had everyone sit in a circle and she took a child's hand and walked them halfway around the circle and then they ran back while we sang a song. None of the kids would do it, they were all too scared, but my little man stepped right up, took her hand, and did it! He was the first kid to do it and even after watching him the other seven kids insisted on doing it with their parent. After watching the little man after one class, I think he will do just fine throughout the 10 week course and I will feel great knowing he and I will have spent this time together.