Thankful

For the past 4 days I have been hanging out with a sweet little second grader named Chloe, aka nannying, which explains my lack of blogging. Today, I am thankful to be home.

Chloe's parents went to Boston, where Audra's students competed in a debate competition at Harvard.  Chloe and I had a busy weekend consisting of dance, dance, and more dance.

Friday morning the madness began. I woke Chloe up at 7am, went downstairs to tend to the dogs, Luke and Gabbie. Back upstairs, got Chloe dressed, then down stairs for cinnamon rolls. Luke and Gabbie enjoyed their breakfast as well. After teeth brushing, it was off to school. I was instructed by Audra to just drive up and drop Chloe off, but I was instructed by Chloe that I need to walk her inside. Soo, I did just that. I put aside the fact that I had not even had time to wash my face, and assured myself that it didn't matter that I had 4 eyes, because I did not know anyone but Chloe. She didn't seem to mind.

I consumed the rest of my day by being relaxing and channel surfing. Luke and I tried to bond, but all he cared about was chewing on my flesh which was not ok with me. 3:00 rolled around and it was time to pick up Chloe from school. This time I was prepared and made sure that my glasses were left at home. Chloe had one request for the weekend: to go see Never Say Never. So we did just that. First, we had to run a few errands. We traveled to Walgreens in search of a hairagami that was a necessity to make the "perfect bun" for her dance competition. Of course they didn't have one, but instead of making it a wasted stop we picked up snacks for the movie. Chloe picked out two packages of candy and a root beer. I didn't question, at least the Root Beer was caffiene free. We tried CVS next, and luckily they had the hairagami! Then it was off to the mall to return a purchase that Audra made, but was not satisfied with. Finally, it was movie time. We were both equally excited, and I learned to never get to a movie more than 10 minutes early with a child because the anticipation absolutely kills them. Luckily we survived, and after the movie we both agreed that it was very good. Our favorite part was Miley Cyrus' suprise appearance. After the movie it was time for dinner, Chloe's choice was Chili's. She enjoyed a cheese pizza, and I devoured some nachos. Although it wasn't your typical date night, it was definitely a fun night filled with Bieber Fever.

Saturday is when the diva dances. We were to be in Katy, TX by noon. Sounds late, but it comes a lot faster than you might think. I woke up at 7am to make sure that I looked perfect. Chloe woke up at 9. I curled her hair, did her make up, and made sure she had on her "dance warm up" and we hit the road jamming out to Justin Bieber's new cd. Along with the dancer, comes what they call the "dream duffel." This isn't just a duffel bag, it's a duffel bag with a hanging clothes rod inside and everything a dancer might need for the perfect performance. Keep in mind that Chloe and I could both fit in this "dream duffel" comfortably, and I was expected to tote this bag around, along with all my crap. Suddenly I didn't need near as much as I thought I did.

We arrived in Katy, and I felt so accomplished. Little did I know that the fun was just about to begin. Chloe had to get dressed for dance number 1: dishes. This outfit consisted of jeggings, a baby blue polo, hot pink vans, and an apron. After we got all suited up, of course the make up and hair had to be repolished. Once she was all ready to go I was headed to the audience to relax and pray that she still looked the same when she came on stage as when I left her. Luckily this was the only dance of the day, so after she was finished we could relax. So we did just that. Checked into the hotel and watched Disney for the rest of the afternoon. Although she might have thought I was the boring babysitter, at this point I didn't care because I was anticipating the next day where she had 4 different dances and it was my responsibility to make sure she was prepared for each one.

Sunday we woke up at 6am. Same drill as the day before. Must look perfect. By this point my glamour went out the window, and I was solely focused on Chloe. It was time to unload the "dream duffel" and I looked around for a man in sight, but all I could find was a world of dance moms. Needless to say I sucked it up and wheeled it in. We arrived in our dressing room, and we were surrounded by dance moms and dancers. I stuck out like a sore thumb because I did not eat, sleep, and breathe dance and it was quite obvious. All of the other dance moms were very nice and had everything down to the last detail. Luckily they helped me with Chloe's costume changes and maintaining the "perfect bun." 4 dances later, we both survived the day, and I felt so proud for Chloe and her dance accomplishments.

Although the weekend goes on, it gets boring from here. On my drive home today I reminised over the weekend and thought to myself how I am no where near ready to be a mother, and I pray that I never have to be a single mother. I have no idea how people do it. I also realized that I do not want just one child, might as well go all out. I'm a little too selfesh for children right now. I found myself getting frustrated because I had no time for myself and it was all about Chloe. Then I realized that this is what happens whenever you have children. So in all honesty I'm thankful that I do not have children at this moment, and I'm thankful that I got the opportunity to be a "dance mom" for the past 4 days. I did not realize how much money it costs, and how much time and energy it takes to be a parent. One of these days I will be ready for my 5 children, and hopefully they will not all want to do dance!


I arrived home to a clean apartment, and an excited Stanlie. Right now I am content with my life.