The Dance Recital

Sunday was a really big day for Gwen. After running her first kids K race, she had her first dance recital in the afternoon. John was really excited to see his little girl dance on stage, I was preparing myself for her to cry and not actually do it (see Mother's Day Tea).

Before nap, she informed me that she would not be attending the recital, she did not want to go. I was prepared for this. I told her that she would get an award for going on stage (true) and we had to go to the recital to at least get the award. I also suggested we make a card for her teacher, which she LOVES to do. So we made the card, but she still said she was NOT going to dance on stage. I told her we should at least go and give the card to her teacher. That seemed to be ok.

The babysitter showed up to watch the little kids and we got Gwen ready to go. All evidence points to this recital not happening. John and I agreed that we were willing to make some promises if she danced, but not take it too far.

So, we take it in steps:
1. get dressed and do hair
2. get in the car
3. get out of the car (took some begging)
4. go inside (she was unsure about this)
5. give card to her teacher (she was excited to do this, but made a break for the exit)
6. go and SEE the stage
7. sit down and look at the stage, check out the other girls in her class
8. go stand on the stage for a picture (she was pretty sure this was a bad idea)
9. promise of ice cream IF she DANCED on stage (this was a well played bargaining chip)
10. her teacher came and asked her to go up and dance

At this point, she just went up with her class and had no problem at all. The audience was only parents and family of the other 6 girls, so it was not too many people. The teacher did a great job with the girls and it was very cute.

You can see the video here. It is in 2 parts, but the whole thing isn't very long and will be a classic for years to come.

As you can see in the video, Gwen is a little distracted by her tutu. Lesson learned - I should have pinned it on her. She did get a trophy and her Dad gave her flowers. Then we went out for ice cream. We are super proud of her for doing this, we know it was a challenge for her to do!