Tiny dancer

Today was Mallory's long-awaited dance recital. Preparations began early, with a morning shower and a bun-making process that could possibly have been more painful for me than it was for her. After getting her hair done, she requested the lunch of champions: grilled cheese. She looked like a starlet wandering the house in her robe with her hair done. No way was she eating ketchup for lunch in her white costume! We waited until after the ketchup was done and her face was washed before applying her make-up.I had to get her to the theatre early, and am glad I wasn't any later than I was. Parking was hard to find and it took a long time to find our way to the dressing room, tucked away in a warren of backstage tunnels underneath the auditorium. I left her settled in with three other classes in a single dressing room. It seemed cramped but others who've been in the dance biz for much longer actually lauded the roominess. Who am I to know?

She did very well onstage. She danced. She didn't stand there like a deer in the headlights. She took a lot of visual cues from her teacher who demo'd from the wings, but then again, so did all of her classmates. She looked adorable. I, of course, was not allowed to photograph at all... we'll have to wait and see how the pro shots turned out. I have a funny feeling they will all feature just the side of her head, but if any turn out well I may shell out for a copy. They also got me for $5 for the flower for my little starlet. My wallet continues to empty.

Just as fun as seeing Mallory onstage was picking out all the other kids we knew, like daycare friends and school friends and work colleagues' kids... this is a pretty major dance studio in town, from the numbers I saw today.

After the final curtain call, and collecting her from backstage along with 1500 other parents in the warren of tunnels, I wanted to get a couple more shots of her. She wasn't really buying it. She was clearly exhausted. I did bribe her with a promise of a popsicle at home:

The other parents were giving me disapproving looks, like, don't you realize that by letting your kid wear her tap shoes out on the street, she's going to ruin them? Yes, I realize that. I also realize that had the dance season gone two weeks longer, she would no longer fit into them, and my kid is going to be tumbling and trampolining next year rather than tapping. So I really don't care. They will sell on Kijiji regardless.
One more photo at home, while we were both cleaned up. I had to tickle her to elicit a smile here. Even though both sets of grandparents joined us for dinner back at the house (thank you!), and normally she'd be a little social butterfly, she instead retired to her room for some alone playtime while we got dinner on the table. It's not like her to need alone time, but she deserved it today. She went to bed complaining of a tummy ache, which didn't seem right because she actually ate very well today. I think it might have been the stress. I laid beside her and rubbed her back until she fell asleep. Today that did not take very long at all.