Christmas Spectacular

The pictures are from the annual Dance show for December. The studio used to do "The Nutcracker" when Sarah was little, then when Kristen got old enough to dance the only boy at the studio graduated. They have not done "The Nutcraker" since, but instead have done a take off from the Radio City Rockettes with their Christmas Spectacular. It is a cute show that involves tap, jazz, ballet, and a live nativity at the end. I was talking with some of the parents I know with kids in the preschool classes. They were complaining about how little their kids were on stage compared to the older ones. That is when it dawned on me. I used to be that parent who wished I was able to see my child dance more, now I have realized that my child is the one that is doing most of the dancing. Sarah was probably in about 3/4 of the show. Kristen still doesn't have a lot of dances, but she is in more than just a 2 minute song. I have also come to realize that the reason the little kids (babies as they are called at dance) don't have longer parts is because it is harder for them to learn the part they have and because they still don't know many steps and need to work up gradually. To those parents who were complaining about the lack of stage time for their children, I want to say; Just wait, before you know it they will be the older dancers who have all of the roles. It seemed like just yesterday that Sarah was in the baby classes and now she is in the Advanced level and Kristen is in Junior III for both of her classes. Before I know it she will be in the Intermediate level.
I was surprised tonight to see just how far my girls have come in dancing. Sarah as always looked good on stage, but tonight she was smiling like she was having a good time and looked so grown up. Just another reminder that she is growing up and is no longer my little girl. Kristen also did much better this year. Other years she has looked like she didn't know the routine, but this year she had it down. I also noticed that during her tap dances, she has learned to do many steps and can actually tap now more than just a couple of beginning steps.

It is nice to see signs that your children are growing up, but it is also a little scary. Sarah only has 4 more Christmas shows before she graduates and leaves. So little time, so much more to teach. What happened to my little girl.