Never Ask, "How Bad Can It Be?"...

...because you may just find out the answer to that question. I haven't mentioned before that Oldest Child is on her middle school dance team. Except in the Alumni News meme of the last post. Perhaps I haven't mentioned that fact because I was hoping if I kept my head buried in the sand or put on my rose-colored glasses then it would just go away. If you have read the meme, then you know that Oldest Child can accomplish anything she sets her mind to. This will serve her well once she is out of the house and on her own. While she is living under our roof, however, it causes much strife and many conflicts. This spring, she decided she wanted to try out for the dance team. She has always been a swimmer; swimming since she was in first grade with quite a few first place ribbons to show for her efforts. But the older she got, the more she wanted to spread her wings and try other "sports". First of all, when I said, "If it's OK with Dad, then it's OK with me," never dreaming in a million years her dad would say yes. Silly, silly me.

So, OK, now I have to hope against all hope that there are, oh, 3 or 4 or 15 girls trying out who are better than Oldest Child. My obligation was fulfilled, I said she could try out, she didn't make the team, keep on swimming, sweetie, keep on swimming. Well, after I watched her after ONE practice and seeing the routine ONCE, I knew that this wouldn't work either. Especially when I found out she only had to beat out HALF of those trying out, because there were only 30 vieing or 15 positions. It was then that I realized swimming would be put on hold for awhile because we were trying dance team. I could hardly contain my excitement when she found out she won.

Now that school is in full swing and she has dance practice on Tuesday and Thursday, and when you're 13 and you're choosing captains for the dance team on the first practice, you can only hope to imagine all the drama when THE FIRST PRACTICE OF THE SEASON, THE ONE WHERE THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO CHOOSE CAPTAINS WAS CANCELLED!!!!!!!! (The dear, sweet sponsors, who just happen to be teachers at the middle school had a meeting...go figure!) So the choosing of the captains had to be postponed until Thursday; hate it when that happens. So we come home on Thursday and she tells me who the captain of the majorettes (who also practice with the dancers) was and she told me the name of a captain of the dance team. I was just getting ready to give her my, "You did you best, you will still be a good dancer" spill, when she told me that there were co-captains for the dance team and she was the other captain!!
And joy shown round about the earth.

I should have thought back to all Oldest Child has accomplished in her mere 13 years: took the training wheels off of her bicycle when she was four because her little boyfriend didn't have training wheels so she didn't need training wheels either. One of the youngest members of the swim team. The unicycle incident. I don't even watch her on the trampoline because I would hate to have a heart attack at my young age...but if the cheerleaders can do it, so can she. She was voted President of her youth group at church because she decided she wanted to, so that's what she did. If the trend continues, I'm thinking that perhaps a lawyer or doctor could come into the family and she could be rich and buy her mama a beach house because her mama was the one who carried her to and fro all the practices for all the teams she is on.

At this rate, I can hardly wait for high school : (