Do any of you have a daughter that participates in dance competitions? If you have any tips how to survive competition season, please let me know.
Dance competition season is so stressful! My daughter's first competition for this season is this weekend. Unfortunately we have to stay overnight and we will be gone for a couple of days. I will miss my husband and sons very much. We will be staying in a hotel with a refrigerator and a microwave, which is great for me, because I have a limited diet, so I can bring my own food for the first night. The problem is, I have a hard time figuring out how to use everything in the hotel room. I can never figure out how to set the alarm clock or how to adjust the temperature. We're also lucky if I can figure out how to turn on the lamps and the lights because the light switches are never where I expect them to be. I also have trouble figuring out how to turn on the shower. So, after we check-in and go to the room, we always try everything first and then call the front desk to have someone show us how to use everything else, much to my embarrassment. Also, the second day of dance, she doesn't have to be there until 5:00 p.m. and we have to check out of the hotel at 12, 2 if they give us a late check out, so we just spend the rest of the time in the lobby.
I also am no good at driving and figuring out directions. So, I have a GPS and a printout of directions from Yahoo, but even then, I'm lucky if I can find where I'm going. My GPS is always having to make a new route, because I always go the wrong way!
Unfortunately, I'm also no good at slicking my daughter's hair back in a part and putting it in a bun. I have trouble getting her makeup to look just right too - not too little, but also not so much so that she looks like a clown. Everything has to be just perfect or the teachers' will send you to another mom to have them fix it.
Another stressful thing is, we didn't know until late last week what tights and shoes she needed to wear for each dance. So, as I found out, I placed an order with the dance store online. I ordered at least 5 different times in the last two weeks. Since it's last minute, a few things are backordered. One of the tights is supposed to ship today, so I hope it gets here in time.
We also don't have her costumes yet! Costumes for 6 of the dances arrived at the studio yesterday, but none were hers. There are a total of 45 dances from our dance studio, so they better hurry up and finish the costumes soon. Some are supposed to arrive at the studio every day, so we anxiously check our email a million times a day to see if it's hers.
Well, I could list a ton more stressful things, like packing, but I'll stop for now. So, do any of you dance moms have any advice as to how to make it less stressful?Labels: My Kids