Stage Moms

I took my Charge to dance class tonight and apparently tonight was the night for trying on their performance outfits. The performance isn't until May but the outfits came in early. So try them on we did. I got Charge into her outfit & began pinning all the extra's on. Now I'm no stranger to performance outfits. I was a figure skater for 7 years and took part in 7 performances. I know the basics of pinning, ribbons, etc. However, tonight--since we were just trying them on to see if they fit, I pinned all the extra's with the pins on the outside, not the inside--which is the right way. Apparently that wasn't "good enough" for the dance instructor because she lectured me, in front of all of the parents and other children, about the 'correct' way to pin things onto a leotard.

Embarrasing, yes. Aggrivating, extremely! There was so much I wanted to say to her but I held my tongue as I was standing in a room full of children who really didn't need to hear the expanse of my vocabulary.

Now to the stage mom part. I'm convinced that 75% of the parents there were stage parents. Most of them were mom's. They were ridiculously picky about how their children looked in these outfits. I mean, honestly, we were just putting them on the kids to see if they fit--not get everything perfect. These kids actually looked fearful. Sad really. Dance class should be fun, no scary. Shame on those parents, and that teacher, for talking down to those kids! I wanted to just pick up my Charge and take her out of there. She didn't smile the entire time we were there. Now I know why she never wants to go to dance class. I wouldn't want to go either.