Picture, if you will, a rectangular room with echoing acoustics and a hard cement floor, populated by around a dozen mothers who have established squatters’ rights at various positions along the wall, each surrounded by a plethora of paraphenalia, including hair materials, anywhere from three to five costumes, make-up and shoes, along with at least 15 3rd and 4th grade girls, who make enough noise for at least thirty, and one brave dance teacher trying to shepherd the 15 girls through group and individual pictures in each of the three to five costumes. That picture will give you a pretty good idea of the annual event at Kayla’s dance studio known as picture day, which happened yesterday. The noisiest picture is the one taken of the girls in their tap costume. At that point, the 15 girls talking at a decibel of 30 girls geometrically expands to a noise volume somewhere around 90 girls, since the sound of their talking increases to cover the noise of the tap shoes. The picture above is one I took of Kayla in her tap dance costume.
Here is Kayla in her ballerina costume. I think it is really pretty. This was the second or third photo for the girls, and while I can’t show you the expressions on the mom’s faces, while the girls still are having a good time, most of us are starting to reflect on the uncomfortable aspects of the hard cement floor, although we are having a good time visiting with the other mothers and learning that our children are not unique in the foibles and follies they display to us every day.
The last costume for Kayla was her gymnastics costume, so she decided to do a back bend for me. I am really impressed; I have never been that flexible. Since it was the last picture for the day, all of the mothers still remaining were cheering the gymnastics picture taking process on, and most of us were calculating how we were going to drive straight home without doing any errands so that we wouldn’t have to wait for our child to change before we left. Every time the photo room door would open and a girl scurry out, our hopes would rise that they were done, only to be dashed as each girl explained something to her particular mother and scurried back into the photo room. Kayla came out three times because she wanted to update me on her progress and I came within an inch of telling her the last time that under no circumstances was she to come out of the photo room again until they were completely done. I didn’t though, because she truly was just trying to help.
Once the gymnastics photos were done, it didn’t take long for most of us to clear out of there.
Kayla’s dance teacher constantly amazes me with how calm she can remain in the midst of the necessary chaos, and still steer everyone to where they need to be and answer about fifty questions being shot at her in every direction. She goes through this every day this week, with dancers ranging from age three up to age 17 or 18!
- No-No and Bad Dog Strike Again
After a couple of quiet days, No-No and Bad Dog reemerged yesterday to remove from my bedroom one Merrell and one sneaker and a handkerchief. I am guessing that No-No (Darwin) scored the shoes because they were not in a dilapidated state but instead just plopped down in the middle of the den floor in the hopes that I would notice. I am certain that Mandy scored the handkerchief because I caught her red-handed with the handkerchief in her mouth and a mournful expression on her face when she realized that she had been caught. The mournful expression was not because she was sorry for anything she had done, but because she knew that the handkerchief was about to be taken from her.
This morning, the intrepid duo managed to score a cheap ring from a McDonald’s Happy Meal. I removed it from Bad Dog as she was chewing it. No-No was staring at it and Mandy, simply waiting his turn. A second ago, while I was writing this, my Merrell just got dropped in the den again by No-No, who is puzzled as to why this troubles me!
- The Light Bulb Conspiracy Continues
As I told you in an earlier post, we have light bulbs that tend to go out in clusters, and, being tired of that, we put in light bulbs that are supposed to last two years in each of the flood lights in the den. The other light bulbs in the house have now escalated their attack. In two days, we have had four bulbs blow in various parts of the house. The first was the end light over the breakfast bar. Mark went ahead and replaced it that night, even though I asked him if he wanted to wait until we saw which other lights chose to go out. The next morning, the middle light on the breakfast bar, a flood light in the bedroom and a bulb over my vanity all went out within ten minutes of each other. I guess the bulbs feel like they have to make up for the ground they have lost in the den!
Have a good day everyone!
Nancy
Tales from the Mom-Side 
