Mila is enrolled in a dance class again this year. Dance isn't a thing I think she would have found on her own, but she has that big sister constantly influencing her. She wants to be like her sister. It's a thing.
But not EXACTLY like her sister.
At age 5, Alexis already knew ballet was her favorite. She has since had lyrical and modern creep into her life, but one form of dance that is not her speed is hip hop. It's not ... formulaic enough for her. Let's go with "formulaic." Alexis excels at precision and flawless technique and having a "proper" way to do things. Hip hop offers NONE of that so basically she ends up looking like a ballerina trying to twerk. She looks like it because that's exactly what she is. A ballerina trying to twerk.
(Fun aside: At a hip hop class with a guest teacher, she actually got WAY better and loosened up a ton, but only because the guest teacher stopped directly in front of her, did an awkward pirroute, and then said, "THIS IS NOT A BALLET RECITAL, PRINCESS." It was exactly the right thing to get Alexis to loosen up. She a more than passable hip hop dance now because of that teacher, though we all know hip hop is never going to be her favorite.)
So hip hop is not Alexis' thing, but she's required to take it for her dance program, so she trudges through.
Mila picked a hip hop class for this year. I let her pick between all of the classes for kids her age, so she picked hip hop over ballet, tap, and all sorts of things. It was genuinely what she wanted and she went into it with full information.
Some of that "full information" included a thorough description of the proper dance attire. Both Alexis and I explained that hip hop means shorts and a shirt along with some black tennis shoes. Mila agreed that this was acceptable.
AND YET.
Mila had her first hip hop class this week. Alexis went along for the ride because she can't let her little sister have the dance spotlight for a single solitary second. Alexis also wanted to dress her little sister for class, but Mila refused. REFUSED. Mila decided she was wearing a glittery leotard.
Alexis' brain broke. She tried SO hard to explain that hip hop requires shorts and such, but Mila was all, "Whatever." The girls fell into an all-out fight over the whole thing. The fight can be boiled down to Alexis yelling, "YOU HAVE TO FOLLOW THE RULES!" and Mila yelling back, "OH, YEAH? WATCH ME NOT FOLLOW THE RULES."
Legitimately, Alexis could not comprehend how Mila could be willing to walk into a class dressed differently from everyone else. Mila couldn't comprehend why Alexis cared what she wore because Mila wears what Mila wants to wear. As the parent just trying to get a moment's peace, it was frustrating as all get out. And yet, it was also the funniest thing ever because LOLZ AT THEM ARGUING ABOUT THE RULES.
They're going to spend their entire lives not understanding why the other one doesn't respect rules in the same way. It's going to be SO fun to watch. For me. And only for me.