Life really must be slowly transitioning to something resembling normalcy because I just landed smack dab in the middle of photo week for dance. Last year the world shut down just before photos could be taken, so there will forever be a gap in the dance yearbooks.
This year's will stand out in its own way. The studio that the girls attend is, fortunately, aligned with my expectations for safety, so masks are required for group photos. They're doing some other things to make sure everyone stays safe even as "normal" tries to resume. For that I am grateful. Personally I think that it's important that we capture this past year as it has been - masks and all. I've seen lots of group photos from various kids activities with masks removed and it seems ... contrived. It's like we're trying to fake a reality that doesn't exist, and we're doing something that we know isn't safe to get there. So, mask up! And take photos!
Let's just hope this is the only time in the girls' lives that they'll be wearing masks for safety while around other people. FINGERS CROSSED.
Anyway, despite missing a year of dance photos, I fully remember how much I hate them. I especially hate them for Mila's age because it's way too high maintenance of a situation. First there's making sure her hair is done, then there's gathering all of the pieces of her costumes, and then there's the dealing with alllllll of the other dance moms as they care far more than I do about the outcome of said photos. And I say that way on the other side of hindsight. Alexis has been dancing for 12 years now and I have zero regrets about any of those early photos - none of them matter. Some years her hair was a mess. Some years her costume wasn't quite right. NONE OF IT MATTERS.
So I refuse to change course for Mila. Her photos will matter just as little when we're on the other side of life. It's not like there aren't 209247698234713 photos of that child.
But! Photos didn't suck this year! Because Alexis is THE BEST! Alexis student teaches her little sister's classes, which is magical on a weekly basis, but it was extra EXTRA magical for photos because she -wanted- responsibility for hair and costumes and the whole nine yards. As in, she literally called dibs on the right to be in charge for the day. I'm not going to argue with that.
So Alexis braided Mila's hair and let her have a few dabs of makeup and it was perfect. Except, I didn't know how it all turned out until I went to pick the girls up at the end. So, there was this moment where I was like, "Did your sister let you have makeup?" because Mila was a little extra sparkly and I'm pretty sure there was a dab of mascara on there.
Mila, of course, was delighted to report that she did indeed have fancy makeup on. But just a little. There was a little back and forth before Alexis, she who I have referred to as "Grandma Alexis" for over a decade, blurted out, "Mom, you should have seen all of the hooker plaster on some of those girls."
Hooker. Plaster.
I mean, she's not wrong. I've seen how many pounds of makeup some of those moms put on their tiny dancers, BUT STILL.
That grandma thing is just as true now as it has always been.