The Ballerina and the Rabid Dog

Beauty had a recital yesterday. She was so excited, as were we all, to see the fruits of her labor displayed on stage. Adorned in beautiful costumes, we would see her dancing and cheerleading play out to rhythmic music. Wonderful.

There were a few things that I dont quite "get" about how her academy does dance recitals...first, is that this is considered a "mini" recital, and in June, there will be the "big" recital....different songs, different routines, different costumes. The Big One will be at the local high school auditorium, this one was at the academy itself. Seems like the two are a bit close together, which makes it lose it's *specialness*..but whatever, Im always up for watching Beauty perform.

The other thing that was kind of odd, was that her cheer routine, and one of her dance routines (different teachers, by the way) were set to the same song. I couldnt help wondering what happened to the communication between the adults...I mean, what if all the teachers picked, "The Wind Beneath My Wings" or something? Can you imagine sitting through 12 different routines of the same song?

Anywho...the theme was, "All Aboard" and they had songs from across the country...with the idea being that the kids were taking a train ride through different parts of the U.S.A.

Beauty did an adorable cheer routine to, "Deep in the Heart of Texas"...not to be outdown by her dance routine to the same song, in the same gingham and denim outfit. Later in the show, she did her favorite dance to, "I Want to go to Hollywood." She loved wearing the shimmery silver dress, trimmed in white feathers, with a hot pink boa wrapped around her shoulders. She looked so cute.

I do have pictures and video, but Id be a liar if I promised to get them up anytime soon, because Im just lame with technology like that.

After the big night, we went to dinner, Beauty's choice. She picked Islands for the scrumptious cheese fries with bacon, a real big hit in our family.

I was glad when we were finally seated at the restaurant, because Pooper was hungry. We were all hungry, but Pooper gets incredibly irritable when he goes too long without food, and it's a situation that I try to avoid. We put the order in for the cheese fries "WITH BACON" Pooper emphatically threw in, in case our waiter hadnt taken note.

While Beauty sat basking in the glory of her special night, as we asked her questions such as, "what was your favorite part?" and "didnt you love your pink boa?", the much anticipated cheese fries arrived.

It was as if the space shuttle was coming in for a landing, as the plate was lowered to the table...so much excitement!! And then it happened....

Pooper pounced on the plate, with a ferociousness that I havent seen in at least a few weeks. He had his fork in one hand, and he was manically attempting to lift the entire top layer (the cheesy-bacony layer) of fries off the platter and onto his little plate.

"Whoa...hold on cowboy!" I said

"Wait just a minute" My Honey told him, as we both reached over to move Pooper away from the food.

Beauty started to whine and cry, fearful that the treat she had been waiting for was about to be inhaled by her brother.

And then Pooper started pushing back at us, refusing to release his grip from the cheese fries. He was rambling on about something unintelligible as he started shovelling the gooey fries into his mouth.

Beauty cried louder. My Honey's tone got more emphatic, and I looked around the restaurant.

That's something I like to do...when my kids are having meltdowns in public, I like to look around, hoping to see other kids going nutso. But I never see that. When I looked around last night, I saw kids laughing, smiling, napkins on laps, eating tiny bites of food at a time, appreciative, pleasant, well mannered little tikes were all throughout the restaurant.

And then my eyes came back to my table, where Kujo had his face in the platter and was sucking up every last fry, while Beauty howled, and Daddy barked.

Finally, My Honey was able to pull Pooper away from the table and he took him outside to cool off. Beauty and I sat, looking at the remaining pile of fries, little bits of bacon sprinkled all over the table, and she said,

"He is ruining my special night!"

"Im sorry sweetie, but he cant ruin it for me! You are so special, and we are so proud of you....Daddy and I loved watching you dance and cheer, and it doesnt matter if Pooper eats all the fries, he cant change how proud we are of you."

She smiled, and I smiled back, and then we both picked at the remnants of bacon on the table, trying to savor the taste, enjoying the good things from this special night.