Alexis was born to be a Dancing with the Stars fan. From the music to the dancing to the shoes to the dresses, she loves it all. She always has.
The first few seasons we watched the show together, me sitting quietly while Alexis pretended to be Joan Rivers. "Her hair looks funny," and "I like her dress," and "Her shoes don't match very good," were common lines used to describe the action. Alexis made big plans for the day when she would get to wear a sparkly silver dress and sky-high heels just like Brooke Burke.
This season, however, a new level of maturity and understanding has led the kid to "getting" the whole somebody goes home thing. Each week she criticizes the dancing skills of the pairs as we watch on Monday night. Then, on Tuesday, she tries to predict who she thinks should have to go home. She's really very serious in her predictions, and she's not a happy camper when the judges and America don't get it right.
The trouble started the first week. Alexis was torn in her thoughts of who should go. In the end, she ended up somewhat satisfied since she thought Shannen Doherty was wearing an "ugly dress." Then, in week two, she was once again torn between two people. When it was Buzz Aldren that got the boot, she was OK. Not altogether happy, but he was her second choice.
Week three, however, was a totally different beast. Alexis had, at that point, kinda sorta wanted to see someone get kicked off for two weeks running, and the only answer she was willing to accept was for that person to go. When they announced Aiden Turner was the one leaving, she was mortified. Horrified, even. Absolutely distraught.
The kid BAWLED for a solid ten minutes. "But he's a good dancer!" she wailed over and over and over.
I don't even know who the heck Aiden Turner is, but I guess she had a point. He wasn't the worst dancer still on the show at that point.
Fast forward to the next week. There was only one possibility that would appease the Tiny Terrorist, so I was afraid to let her watch the show. That worked out perfectly for me as life intervened and we weren't home for the results show. The DVR was set, but we weren't there to see the results live.
The next day, she asked to watch the recorded episode. I already knew who had gotten the boot, and I knew it was EXACTLY what Alexis had in mind. What I didn't know was how Alexis would respond to the news. Satisfaction? Glee? Ambivalence?
We sat watching, waiting for the torture to end and for good ol' Tommy to spit out the name already. As he uttered the syllables, "Kate Gosselin," a grin broke out across Alexis' face. She whooped. She hollered. She threw a party in the family room.
"Awww, that's not nice Alexis," I told her. "She really liked dancing. She's going to be sad to go home," I continued.
Alexis looked at me, looked at the crying Gosselin on TV, looked back at me, and said, "She's terrible. She needs to pay more attention at dance class."
Yes, indeed. That's exactly Kate Gosselin's problem at this point.
Ahem.
