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Jennifer Morgan

Motherhood Moments

-- Jennifer Morgan is the mother of three girls and lives in McCook.

Dance moms

Thursday, November 15, 2012

I picked up my 12-year-old from the Jr. High dance last Friday night and asked the usual question, "Well ... did you have fun?" To which I received the same less than enthused answer as always, "Yup." No emotion, no nothing. "Well, did you dance this time or just stand there and giggle with your friends?" That question at least got a little smile and then she said, "Ya, just stood there mostly. And that was it, no more information, that's all I got. No details of who danced with who, what boy was doing the sprinkler, which girl did the running man, nothing.

So then I began to ponder, this child just spent a whole hour earlier that evening getting all dolled up for this dance, changing outfits twice, changing shoes three times and all in a tizzy about which way to do her hair. Then she paid $5 to get into a place to just stand there? I assumed at the very least, her and her friends dance together, as is common with kids, but according to her, there's not a lot of that either.

What a waste! Do these kids seriously just stand there for three hours and gab? There's cool music bumping in the speakers and an open dance floor, how do they not want to dance, even just a little. Not to mention all the pop they can drink to fill 'em full of energy, you'd think they wouldn't be able to help it. Maybe that's just Jr. High, I don't remember.

Therefore, I had, what I think is a grand idea! I'm gonna gather up some of us moms and crash the next Jr. High dance! Somebody has to put that empty dance floor to use. Why not a group of super cool moms who still got the moves?! We are SO over being embarrassed by our age and rarely get the chance to dance, especially at a legitimate dance, so I can't think of anything more fun on a Friday night. We have to drop them off and pick them up anyways, so we need something to fill up those three hours.

These days, if we get to crank up the tunes and jam to some good music, it's usually in the car between kid drop offs and pick ups. If we get to dance, it's either at a wedding to some cheesy chicken dance or with our kids doing the hokey pokey. Long gone are our days of getting dressed up, wearing perfume and lipstick to go to a dance. I'm thinking the student council might just make a killing if they would just allow the moms in, and we'll for sure get our $5 worth!

So I mentioned my plan to my 12-year-old, to which she quickly replied, "NO, Mom!" I asked why not and of course she explained how horribly embarrassing that'd be. I informed her that I'm positive her friends would laugh, and might think her mom is not only funny but quite a talented dancer. She disagreed. She said her friends would be just as humiliated if their moms danced. She's probably right.

However ... if those other moms are like me, they really wouldn't care if it was embarrassing, it'd be darn fun! And despite what my daughter thinks, I know she'd laugh. It'd be too funny not too. Kinda like when you're at a wedding and see your 80 year old Grandma shake it on the dance floor. Can't help but laugh.

Well, I think it's an awesome idea and what a memory it'd leave for our precious pre-teens. Buncha moms boogying on the dance floor, reliving their glory days! Priceless! Look out kids, the Dance Moms are coming!

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