True Life: I’m a Stage Mom

I’m just now recovered from this weekend.

Just. Now.

I’ll attribute some of my exhaustion to staying up way past my bedtime last night, anxiously awaiting the arrival of Baby P (a huge congratulations to our besties Amanda and Cody on the arrival of their sweet little GIRL!). But in reality, I’m just not cut out to be a stage mom for 48 hours.

Dorothy is usually extremely shy. Like, painfully shy. She has to warm up to new people and places, and will cling to me with her little death grip until she feels safe. She does this with strangers, and sometimes she even does it with her grandparents… who she sees like 4-5 times a week.

So, it’s pretty obvious why I was nervous for Dorothy’s first Christmas program on Friday night. In my mind, this just wasn’t going to go well. We put on her “princess” dress and curled her hair, and hoped for the best.

The place was PACKED. But, I guess if every PDO and preschool student has a seven person entourage like Dorothy… Let’s just say the kids were loved. Dorothy’s class performed first, and her teachers brought them all in using that magical circle rope thing.

My kid waved at strangers all the way down the aisle.

Then, she gets on stage, and literally entertains. Like, she knew all the choreography, she used different expressions… she was a total ham. The crowd loved it. Where did this come from?!

I literally cried. One, because where the hell did my baby go? And two, who knew my kid was such a performer?!

We followed Dorothy’s debut with a family dinner at Pizza Hut, per the toddler’s request. Even with an hour wait for our food, Dorothy was well-behaved and happy.

Like seriously. Who replaced my child?!

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Shy Dorothy was back on Saturday morning when I took her to visit Santa at the local high school. She managed to whisper, “thank you” when Santa gave her new crayons, but there was absolutely no way she was sitting on his lap.

Yet we still made the local newspaper. She’s going to be a star, that #dbunny.

We visited Daddy at his track meet that afternoon, where Dorothy made friends with another “baby.” A “baby” who happens to be twice her age, and yet a good inch shorter than her. I gave birth to a giant. They bonded over Transformers and Woody, so I would say that it was a successful mini-playdate.

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Saturday evening was the main event of our weekend – Dorothy’s first dance recital. After her previous night’s performance, I didn’t quite know what to expect.

I’ll just… I’ll just show you.