My Dancing Bug

Our journey first began at the district preschool. I thought Liz just had a minor speech delay. At the same time she was having ear infections. The first she had  experinced since she was 6 months old. Do to insurance issues at the time we were self paying for all of her treatment. We were told that she needed tubes, but we could not afford the procedure. Finally, the insurance issues cleared and so did Bug's ears. Yet she still failed a tympanometry test on her ears, Thus the preschool continued to reject her claming there was fluid on her ears (despite the doctor saying there was not) and that was affecting the speech. After a lot of fighting we finallygot her into the preschool. It was 6 months of fighting to be exact.

It was during those 6 months that I knew I had to do something. I watched my daughter slip further and further away from me. I watched her struggle to communicate. She was not a happy child. I went back to my roots. I was a dancer. I loved to dance and had orginally gone to college to be a dance educator. It had influenced (and still continues to influence)  the person I had become. My gut screamed at me to enroll Liz in dance.

I began calling every dance studio in the area. Call after call told me that classes for her age group were full. It was October, so I had kinda expected that. Other phone calls were never returned. My last call was to a smaller studio in the area. My call went to the answrring machine, and I left a message. I hinestly did not expect a call back as many of the other studios had not called back, but less than 5 minutes later my phone rang. We took Liz to dance class that night and she fell in love with it. It became a form of therapy for her, a place where she could be just another kid. 

When Liz is in a dance class she doesn't have to talk. Kids don't notice that she is different. She is able to be her own indvidual person. I have watched my daughter go from a girl held up in her own little closet to a girl ready to take on the world. I love what dance has done for her. Some days may be hard and we may or may not make it out the door to dance, but the weeks where she does attend, I see a totally different child.

At this studio, we have been blessed with an amazing dance family. The support I have recieved throughout this journey from my felllow dance moms has been wonderful. Lizzybug's dance teacher has been so great,. I don't think I can thank her enough for everything she has done for her. She has truly helped us gain our daughter back. Thank you, Charity.

This thanksgiving I am truly grateful for dance and the impact it has had on my life. It continues to weave in and out of my life leaving only happy moments. I am grateful for the women who inspired me to dance. The women who taught me all that I know. They mentored me and helped me to discover who I truly was through the art of dancing. Thank you Mrs. Heather and Mrs. Jeanna. And a thank you to my mom for paying for it, driving me to it, and sitting through it. 

It is truly funny how life turns out. When I graduated high school my career plan was to teach ASD kids dance. I never thought I would be the mom to one. I am also thankful for that early inspiration fron a loving Heavenly Father. Although my career goal changed to mom I have been able to utilize all the knowledge and homework I gained several years ago. Life truly does happen the way it is meant to. 

To The Highschool Students

This blog is to every teenager who has ever said, "My kids will never act like that." Or to the one who has said "I will never..." Oh just you wait Mr. and Miss Young Mind because you will. You can sit there and shake your head as I haul 2 misbehaving children out of a play, and say the "I will nevers" all you want, but my dear you will. You will do all those things you said you never would.

Oh teenagers, life is so simple now (although you don't think so), but one day you will find yourself being a tired mom who no longer cares if her kids are wearing socks. You will leave your house early not having showered. You will throw a coat on and haul your kid out to the bus braless. You will be so bedraggled and tired some days that you won’t leave your couch, and you hand your kids the remote. There will be days where all you want to do is cry. There will be days where you don’t think you can do it anymore. Parenting is hard!

But dear teenager there will be times when you look at your child and realize you would not change it for the world. It might not be the parental paradise that you imagined, but it will be its own kind of paradise. You will find joy in the little things. You will laugh as your child tries to catch butterflies. You will cry when your autistic daughter comes home and is actually able to tell you what she did at school. You will watch their first dance recital. You will cry as the bus takes them away for their very first day of school. You will watch your child grow and succeed, and those little moments are so worth it.

So teenagers, before you throw the dirty looks at a tired mom or make a smart remark under your breath, remember in ten years it will be you. One day you will be the tired mom hauling a child out of an event. I will see you, and I will smile. Maybe I will even help you to the car, and tell you how amazing you are. Because you are just that, amazing.