Starting The Dream

As any good parent, we want what's best for our children.  I certainly do.  I may not always be able to afford to give them all that they want and that's okay.  Money isn't everything.  But dreams are.  I've always been a dreamer but never did much to fulfill any of them, sadly.  I want my kids to have dreams too and even though they may not succeed in all of them I'd like for them to at least try.  I also want to do my part in helping them achieve every goal and dream possible.

My daughter has loved to dance before she could even walk.  She would sit on the floor and just bounce around.  As a child I took ballet but only lasted five years.  I grew bored with it.  I regretted that later.  So when I had a daughter I decided to put her in dance class.  This is her fifth year and she loves it.  So far, her plan is to start teaching dance class when she's in high school and then attend college to become an elementary school teacher by day and a dance teacher at night.  It sounds like a pretty good plan.  She's still very young and that could change and I'm okay with that.  For now, I enjoy watching her.

For the second year she has joined her dance studio as they hosted Moscow Ballet's Great Russian Nutcracker.  It's such an amazing experience where the young dancers are invited to join the professionals on stage.  She missed school that day because of having to be there early and I took off work so I could help her get ready and volunteer until show time.  We started the day with a little relaxing at home, then getting her hair and makeup ready.  We arrived at the theater just before 1pm.  The young dancers tried on costumes, had professional pictures taken and then we hung out in the dressing room until the professionals showed up.  They were traveling from Maine, where they had a show the night before, and ran into traffic and bus trouble.  Luckily, they arrived in time for an hour of rehearsal before the show was ready to start.  Then I joined my family and Brianna's teacher from last year in the audience.  I'm not sure if Moscow Ballet will be back in our town next year but I really hope they do.  It's an amazing opportunity.

Today my son had a chance to hang out with some former professionals in baseball.  He often talks about wanting to play baseball in college and then going pro.  I told him if he goes in the majors he better buy me a mansion and he agreed.  So, I guess I better help the boy achieve his dream so I can get that mansion.  😂  He's been playing baseball since the age of five and, in all honesty, he isn't the best on the team, but he tries his hardest and has so much passion for the sport.  Even if he doesn't make it to the pros, or even gets a spot on a college team, I will still believe in him and support him no matter what. Besides, I may be biased but I think he can do it!   As a belated birthday present my husband scheduled a practice with Jason Aspito, a former MLB player and a former player on our minor league team.  He runs a place in our county for baseball training along with some other former minor league players.  So that's where they went this morning.  It's a good experience for him.

Thank you Moscow Ballet and Backyard Baseball for making these events possible.

My kids are by far living a better life than I ever experienced or imagined.