dance – Mothering Millie

Written by The Daddy

Most of the dances I’ve attended, I’ve gone with the same date, and I didn’t think that I would enjoy going to an event like that with anyone but her. Whenever Aly and I get dressed up to go out together I always have this warm, comfortable feeling of being in the right place with the right woman, and a feeling of pride that someone so beautiful and fun would want to be there with me. The old nerves about dancing or fumbling over flirting have faded and been replaced by familiar dance patterns we learned together, and the comfort of more than a decade and a half of having her hand in mine.

So with that being said, it was surprising to me how excited I was to prepare for Mia’s first dance. The father daughter dance sponsored by her school was, in my mind, just something this Christian school would give a token effort to. I figured that it would be more stiff and less fun than the types of dances I had attended when I was growing up (especially since it was just for K-8 at a Christian school…). Regardless, I was excited for Mia to have the opportunity to do something fun through her school, and excited that I got to be part of it.

I definitely did not give the school and the event planners enough credit! From the moment we were let in the doors, she got to pick out a custom made flower crown, and there was a full professional photographers booth (that Aly had pre-paid and prepared us for ahead of time), with a space for the dads to stand in line, and tables full of different crafting station for the girls to do something fun while waiting. We decided to do that before we got too sweaty dancing. Mia drew a picture with some of her friends, and crafted a custom made bookmark with pressed flowers. After the picture, it was into the ballroom.

The gym had been fully converted to the extent that I did not even recognize the room. 3 of the walls had curtains put up to create the illusion of a dedicated dance floor, there were strings of lights stretched overhead all the way across the gym, there were full disco lights and the DJ was playing fantastic (age appropriate!) dance music! There were tables set up with cookies and snacks and different drinks, and benches for resting. The setting was incredible, and I could tell that Mia was amazed at the conversion of the room. She could not stand still for a second, zipping all over the room every time she saw a familiar face, I could barely keep up with her!

The DJ mixed in fun activities with the normal music, which encouraged people to stay out on the dance floor for more than just dancing. There were Congo lines, line dancing, limbo circles, even a soul train (where people dance down the center of two lines of people while being cheered). These activities did a great job of keeping the dance lively and as many people out on the floor as possible.

The majority of the first portion of the dance I was just trying to keep up with Mia as she found all her friends and spent a few minutes dancing, and then zipped off again to see someone else. It was wonderful to see how friendly everyone was with her, and it made me happy that she had so many friends. At first I was nervous that these people would not be welcoming to her, but my worries eased a little bit as each new interaction showed that they were all familiar with her and her tendencies to be a social butterfly, jumping to and from different friend groups all over the floor.

Once she had greeted all her friends and gone through the limbo line with a few different groups of girls, she then gravitated back towards spending time with me, and I experienced that same sense of comfort and contentment that I always feel being around her mother. If anything, my heart was even more full because there was also pride for the beautiful, wonderful person she is becoming. I showed her all the line dances I knew, and I picked her up and spun her around every chance I got, much the same way that I had done for her mother when we were 18 at her homecoming. It was an amazing time, and I can’t wait for the next dance.

“PSA to parents – you only have 18 summers with your children, so make them count.”

Talk about pressure.

I don’t know where I heard that quote but it has definitely stuck with me. I love that I can spend fourteen weeks of summer with Millie but here we are, two summers deep and I already can’t remember what we did during our first summer together! Thankfully, this blog helps to jog my muffled, mommy memory. Leaving Mill every weekday is rough. I love teaching music and the start of a new school year is always exciting but I miss our snuggle time in the morning, eating lunch together, and I especially miss taking mid-morning naps. So, here’s a post to commemorate our summer (because God knows I will forget by fall).

Millie’s favorite breakfast was a bowl of multigrain Cheerios with almond milk and a side of fruit, usually strawberries or blueberries. She’s gotten really good at using a spoon! Her go to lunch was veggie chicken nuggets (dipped in ketchup), steamed broccoli, and black olives that capped her fingers before they went into her mouth. She breastfed twice a day; before her afternoon nap and bedtime.

It was impossible trying to keep the living room clean. I’ve heard, “You can have a clean house when the kids grow up and leave the house but once they do, you’ll miss them in your house, messy and all.” and my OCD does not care about that for one second. Every time one mess would get organized, Mill would have two more activities out, while playing with something totally different! Then inevitably, it would be meal time and I’d have to walk away from the mess in the living room, just to make a new one in the kitchen! It was definitely one step forward and two steps back when it came to cleanliness this summer. It was best just to clean everything at night, after we put Mill to bed, so we could start fresh the next morning. BTW- she started sleeping in her own bed, in her own room, and through the night this summer..so there’s a win!

Traveling to Texas and Washington DC were easily some of our most memorable adventures this summer. (You can read all about our Texas vacation in the previous blog post.) We went to the DC Zoo with my mom, step-dad, and sister. We drove about two hours, braved the heat, and saw pandas for the first time! Mill loved them. Her paw-paw Kev got her a panda book and stuffed animal panda bear. She’s gotten pretty good at saying their Chinese names, too! On an episode of Daniel Tigers Neighborhood, (that’s a regular show in our house now) there was a quick clip of an actual panda playing in his enclosure and before they said the bear’s name or even the name of the zoo, I was able to identify both. Needless to say, we got a little “panda crazy” this summer.

“Pool?” Mill’s little voice would ask constantly because she loved being in the water this summer. She rotated between a striped, watermelon bathing suit and a hot pink, pineapple suit. To dry off, she used the cutest, hooded Daniel Tiger towel. We set up a small, blowup pool in our backyard, which ended up being more work then fun; it would only stay clean for a day or two before getting slimy and gross, the hose water was freezing, and the pool killed our grass no matter where, or how much we moved it. Next year, we’ll be getting a sprinkler. Mill loved going to her Gam’s pool while we were in VA; she would play with other kids, go under the sprinklers, and go swimming in the deep end with her Aunt Nani. At Zoombeezi Bay, a waterpark connected to the Columbus Zoo, Millie enjoyed going down the water slides (she was too little for some of the slides and would end up with a face full of water). On two occasions, Mill got to play in splash pads. Although she loved it, I was a nervous wreck with the possibility of her slipping and falling on the wet concrete; thankfully, that never happened. She liked playing in her water table, especially on the day that her dad and I attempted to power wash the house; we all got soaked.

We did another session of Zumbini this summer with an instructor that Mill loves. The class was early on Monday mornings and every week, Millie was excited to get dressed and go. Mill surprised me with her dancing and instrument playing; she can play the triangle with great technique and started to twirl and stand on her toes. Frustrating to me, some mothers would bring their newborns with them to class, which of course distracted Mill because she loves babies. She would want to touch the babes and play with them instead of listening to the instructor. And sometimes the moms would get irritated with Mill wanting to see their baby – hello don’t bring your newborn to a toddler class. My grandma made Mill a scarf like they used in class so she could continue to practice her Zumbini dances at home. This girl loves to dance.

Millie loves people, being outside, and anything loud so we decided to take her to our community’s firework show. Her patriotic outfit was absolutely adorable and her pigtails had sequin bows. She rode in her wagon and waved at children we passed finding the ultimatum viewing spot. Mill and her daddy kicked around a soccer ball while we waited for the sun to go down. Once it got too dark to see the ball, I tried my best to explain to Millie the loud booms the fireworks would make. I showed her a fireworks video so she would know what to expect from the show. During the fireworks display, she bounced between mine and Chris’ laps, completely unafraid. Mill was interested in the fireworks for the first three minutes and then asked for baby videos; she loves babies.

We found out in July that we will be having a baby, expected in March! Good thing Mill has taken such a liking to them. Next summer will be different but I’m sure just as memorable.

Tag: dance

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