Last night was fiiiiinally the first night of ballet for Cordelia. She received ballet lessons and clothes (including vegan ballet slippers) from my parents for Christmas. Since then she has requested a daily countdown and today was the big day. Of course the lessons were at the end of the day, so there was a lot of built up energy by the time we were ready to go. She put on her clothes, twirling them and practicing the ballet moves she has learned from friends. She asked, "Does this mean I am a real ballerina now?"
On the drive over she was quiet, thinking. Elise tried to talk and play, but Cordelia was laser focused.
When we arrived she bravely walked in and began introducing herself to the other ballerinas. Like me she is extremely outgoing, Eric was uncomfortable just watching the socialization. Oh, and I should mention that the whole family came along as we all wanted to watch this first lesson.
Class was called into session and they all started off in a circle before stretching, doing some barre work, then practicing their toe-heel walk.
It was about this time that I started looking around at the other parents. We unexpectedly ran into a friend there, a nice surprise. There was a mix of people, but one family stood out. There was a burly man, covered in oil or grease. His son, maybe ten was also pretty grubby. I could easily spot his daughter who had a big smear of grease on her ballet tights and generally looked like she had been playing in a shop before she came.
I loved that her father had clearly gone straight from work with the kids to make sure his girl got to ballet. I also noticed that his daughter stood a bit off from the other girls.
So I couldn't have been more proud when Cordelia held hands with her and tip toed along with the others. It isn't that she noticed the girl was a bit different, but rather that she didn't notice or didn't care. I love that about her, she looks right past the nonsense and sees the person for who they are.
This girl is something else I tell you.
She had a great time and we spent the rest of the night talking about the experience, her teacher, what her teacher wore, etc.
Thursday is Elise's class, so prep for some more adorable photos.
