Solos, Costume Debacles & Texas (My Episode 6 Recap)

Hello, Dance Moms universe!

Hope everyone had a lovely Valentine's Day! I was lucky enough to spend my Valentine's Day with my three favorite people: my husband and my two lovely girls, snuggled up watching Dance Moms.

This week started off with the Bermuda Triangle (as usual). Sometimes, when I am standing there, I feel like I am listening to Charlie Brown's teacher talk "wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah." It's always the same critiques, so I'm not sure why we need to continue to endure the pain. Someone is terrible, someone messed up, someone's mother spoke up. Oh goodness, I feel my eyes glazing over just thinking about it. At least this week, Mackenzie got to be at the top! Yea, Mackenize! (Little known fact: my 2-year-old, Clara, and Kenzie are good friends. They LOVE each other. Partners in crime. Two peas in a pod, Double Trouble.) And another surprise: us moms were making each of our daughter's solo costumes this week. Oh, boy...

I personally was fine with this assignment. Actually, Abby "assigns" me costume duties often. Which is one of the reasons I get upset with her. She asks me all the time to help out with costuming, but then tells me I am not allowed to have an opinion. Um, then do them yourself? I dont mind helping, but I like to use my own creativity. I don't want to be bossed around where to glue a rhinestone, you know? Now some of the other moms were flipping out about the costumes because that is not their thing. I get that. But I, personally, was excited to make Chloe's costume.

I knew Chloe was doing a contemporary ballet solo and I wanted it to look like a ballet costume, but with an edge. So, I bought a white bra, a white tutu, some dye and trims and got to work. I actually made that costume in my bedroom around midnight the night before we left for Texas. I loved the way it turned out, so I was pretty proud of myself. Maybe I missed my calling in life?

Speaking of Texas, that was a total surprise. When Dance Explosion called to cancel, I was really excited at the idea of having a weekend off and the girls getting an extra week to rehearse their solos. And then we found out Thursday evening that we were leaving for Texas first thing Friday morning. That was totally unexpected and our girls lost a whole rehearsal day due to travel. The show really must go on...  

When we arrived at the competition, we were really surprised at the gym floor. That was definetely something we were not expecting. And I was really worried because Chloe was dancing her solo in ballet slippers, which are twice as slippery on a gym floor. Uh oh. She considering wearing her rubber bottom jazz shoes or going barefoot, but she made the decision to wear the slippers. I think her quote was, "Im doing ballet. I want to wear my ballet shoes." Okay, you're the dancer, Chlo, that's your call. But I knew she was going to have to compensate somehow for the slipperyness. (Is that even a word??) But when I saw her dance, I thought she did an amazing job. I was very proud of her and thought she danced beautifully. I love the fact that Chloe is doing different styles of dance this season. I dont wan't her to become comfortable in only one style, so I love that she is being pushed. I think this will serve her better later in her career. I was one proud, Mama.

Actually, I was not just proud of Chloe, but I was proud of all the girls. I thought everyone danced exceptionally well considering all the craziness that was going on that week. They lost a rehearsal day, we traveled halfway across the country, they were dancing in a totally different environment than they are used to, not to mention the gym floor and Kendall's costume debacle. They never cease to amaze me how they step up to any challenge and knock it out of the park.

Oh, the great costume debacle. I don't want to comment too much on what happened with Jill because that is her story to tell, but all I can say is that I didn't think she was serious. I thought she was kidding around at first (if you watch, I'm actually kind of laughing at the beginning). But I quickly realized that it was no joke and she was flipping out for real. I know I am going to take a lot of heat for saying this, but I actually felt bad for her. I know how hard it is when you want to do what's right for your child and you are fighting a losing battle with Abby. Plus, we are under a tremendous amount of pressure and we are all exhusted. Tempers flare quite easily and the rest of us at least have a little bit of experience dealing with these situations. Jill is new to the group and this whole experience. It's tough.

On to the awards! When they were announcing Chloe and Paige's category, it was down to the two of them for first and second place, so Kelly and I knew when they announced second, the other girl was the winner. I actually leaned over to Kelly and said "I hope Paige wins." I thought Paige danced her best ever that day and I really wanted to see her win. She works just as hard as everyone else and and she does not get the same attention. There is just something so satisifying to see these girls succeed and I love Paige to pieces. She and Chloe have been best friends since they were two years old and so many of my memories of my daughter include Paige. She was even one of the first visitors at the hospital with Chloe after Clara was born. To say both Chloe and I wanted to see her win is an understatement. After the awards, Chloe ran to me and said "If someone is gonna beat you, it's great when it's your best friend!" So, yay Paige! You deserved it!!!

See you next week! Have a great one!

Cheers, Christi

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