fighting the fat gene,  fitness,  I'm an idiot,  illos

SAJ takes Ballet

SAJ takes ballet

I decided Bug didn’t need to have all the fun in ballet class so I joined one too. This local studio has a really cool program where you can enroll the whole family and take unlimited classes for a flat rate. But by far the best thing about this studio is that it is catered to moms and when you take classes they have free childcare right in the same room. So while I jumped around and plie-ed, I could watch Bug out of the corner of my eye.

I thought this might be a bad thing as Bug could watch me as well and throw a fit causing me to have to leave class and go fix whatever was wrong but thankfully that didn’t happen. They had crafts going on in the next room and she was happy as a clam. I love our new dance studio!

Now I’m just afraid this studio is going to blow up with popularity. I’ve had that happen before. I used to take a lot of yoga classes back when I was working full time and my favorite class kept getting more and more crowded. It was terrible. You couldn’t turn around without whacking into another sweaty body.

One day I was so claustrophobic I walked right out of the class and took a blanket with me accidentally. The office staff ran after me, apologizing for the crowdedness but I was really embarrassed so I just kept walking all the way out to my car with the blanket in tow. I still have that blanket and it still humiliates me whenever I see it. I should just take it back to the yoga studio and be done with it. It’s seriously been five or six years, I’m sure they would have no memory of me by now.

So anyway back to the ballet class. I really like it. It’s just hard enough to get me sweating but not too hard that I’m gasping on the floor while everyone else flounces around me. The only problem is that all the other girls appear to have been real ballerinas in their lifetime before motherhood. Their necks are so long, their arms are so graceful and their legs are like giraffes. I feel short and squatty and of course I’m as graceful as a mack truck.

I’m not letting my discomfort get the best of me though. I know this is just my perception of reality. I’ve come to realize that I’m just a very visual person and I’m prone to notice differences when I’m in a group of people who are different from me. I notice things like I’m the only one with bushy out-of-control bangs while everyone else has their sleek hair swept back into a neat bun.

Does that help me change and become more sleek? No. Well, maybe a little tiny microscopic bit over a long long time but I think my quirky character is pretty ingrained. I’m okay with that. While I might not have grace or super long bendy limbs, I do have a strong will and I know giving up just because I feel awkward isn’t going to get me anywhere. Though maybe next time I will try to find a shirt that doesn’t have paint stains on it.

22 Comments

  • Katie

    Ballet is art and paint stains are art! You are just being artistic!! Love the blog and super impressed with your dance studio. Such a good idea.

  • Jen

    Wow! I’m completely impressed!! I could never do that – I’m WAY too self-conscious. I really admire you for joining! Also, that illo is pretty stellar.

  • bethany

    yay for ballet with childcare!! the best. enjoy, and bet those bun-swept moms are uncomfortable and self-conscious too, it almost always turns out that way.

  • Annika

    I always feel so dumpy around other moms. Is this a SoCal thing? I hope it is, because that means that someday I could move to where I won’t be the stupid short fat one.

  • Jennifer

    Annika just added to my “Why I’m Moving to North Carolina List……So I don’t have to be the stupid short fat one. I love that, haha.

    Your dance studio sounds awesome. I would probably take martial arts before dance because I would just be way too self conscious. Although, I think I need to take voice lessons and dance lessons before I die so I don’t regret never being graceful (or as graceful as I can be) and able to sing a song without the neighborhood dogs showing up at my front door.

  • Rebecca (Bearca)

    I had never taken a ballet class in my life, but I finally did when I was an adult! I thought it was so fun, and I liked that it got me out of my (very klutzy) comfort zone. I think it’s great that you are doing it!

  • MargieK

    Good for you. A ballet studio with child care — what a great arrangement! You’re wise to suspect that it could get too popular.

    I took ballet for a year or two as a kid, and then again in college when I needed PE credits. Never got any good at it, but it’s fun.

    And while I can see where “normal” people in parts of California could be self-conscious due to the occasional uber-svelt, pampered celebrities in their midst, I think it’s normal for all of us, no matter where we live and no matter what we look like to be self-conscious about something. You’ve got the right attitude about it.

    Plus, I think it’s important for us to “talk with our feet” (aka “walk the walk”). If you want bug to see exercise (and eating healthy) as normal life-long habits then demonstrating that by doing it is the best way to get that across. Kids can detect the hippocracy (sp?) in “do as I say, not as I do” a mile away!

  • Victoria

    Awesome that you’re doing that! I hope you totally enjoy it. I danced for a ton of years and I miss it so much, I’d love the opportunity to dance again like that. And trust me, when I get in there I feel klutzy and squatty and not good too!

  • c

    Good for you!!

    I say give Bug the camera and let her take photos of you during your lessons. It would be interesting to see her pint of view.

  • Kuky

    That’s so cool! When I was little I wanted to take ballet but never said anything to my parents. Then funnily when I grew up my dad started taking ballroom and said it was one of the things he regretted, not putting us in dance classes.

    Now, I don’t think it’s something I’d do, mo matter how much prodding. I’d be too self conscious.

  • DeeJay

    They make shirts WITHOUT paint stains?!!! Where to buy?! Do tell!

    Seriously, be proud of yourself! Have loads of ballet fun with the girls!

  • Anna-b-bonkers

    Whoot! Way to go! I love the idea of this class, if they had something like that here I would be all over it…..hmmm, maybe I could start something, ha, like I have time for that too, sigh.

  • CAROL S-U

    Good for you – go girl, go!! I know what you’re saying about hating it when it gets too crowded… takes some of the fun out of it when you have to be so cautious to not smack into someone… or maybe that’s just me – I tend to opt for water exercise so it’s harder for others to see how grace-less I am!! Great new header!!

  • gingermog

    I think its delightful that you are getting to take ballet lessons after all this time. I am sure you are not as ungraceful as you think you are. I always look out at elbows at my exercise class too in old jogger bottoms and any old t-shirt that comes to hand. Enjoy yourself x