Jump Household: The Recital

I’ve been meaning to get these pictures up from Macy’s recital from back on June 22nd– but I think it took me the entire two weeks (okay, okay...nearly three) to recover from the big day! I didn’t realize it until after it was all over, but I was pretty nervous about whether or not Macy would be willing to go up on stage in front of hundreds of people and dance. Not to mention the anticipation of having a squirmy, teething, 18-month old “I haven’t had a nap this afternoon” child on my lap for the entire performance. (For the record, Morgan did amazing – surprising us all, barely making a beep the entire time – AND she stayed on my lap too) With that said, we tried to be very laid back about the whole thing and just encouraged Macy to have fun up there-that’s what it was all about! She has just been so excited, nearly obsessed, with ballet all year long, and actually cried once week when she was sick and unable to go to class. When we arrived at the theater, Macy was VERY excited – nearly giddy, and was so excited to see Morgan and all of her family outside of the theater waiting for the recital to begin.

I left her with the “backstage mommy helpers” and we went out to our seats. When it was finally time for the “Pink Rose Princesses”, little Macy tiptoed out on her “Cinderella toes” (as her teacher Ms. Kristine calls them) and made her way across the stage right on cue. I have to say that I had tears in my eyes as my little girl walked across stage – flash backs to my little baby and thoughts of “how in the WORLD did she get so big?” Anyways, she did wonderful and had a sweet little smile on her face. But, with about 30 seconds to go in the routine – I could see her pause for a split second, as she was trying to remember the rest of the routine – and that was it. She turned to find her teacher in the wings for some assistance, noticed the very large audience, and then slowly started to walk (quickly progressing to a run) off stage to the loving arms of Ms. Kristine, who I could see lift her up in the air in a hug of reassurance that it was okay. My heart just went out to her…she was trying so hard to be brave out there on stage. To tell you how much we love Ms. Kristine, she actually called me the next day to make sure that Macy was doing okay. Now that’s "above and beyond" in my book.

After the routine ended, all of the dancers were to remain in their “waiting rooms” until the end of the recital, so that they could all participate in the “curtain call” in their costumes. I knew Macy would be hesitant to go back out at this point, so during the intermission, Grandma Miller & I decided to surprise her with some of her congratulatory flowers. Her face absolutely lit up…and the beautiful “just for me” flowers somehow gave her the confidence she needed to go back out on stage. We waited out in the audience….anxious to see whether she would join the other dancers….and out she ran – leading the way for her class, clasping her special flowers tightly in her hands as she ran. It was just what she needed. She was very excited for the rest of the day, posing for pictures with family….it really did end up being a special day and experience for her. Here are some pictures: