Like so many of you, I sometimes find myself disappearing into my mummy persona to the extent that I get to the end of the day and cannot think of a single thing I did that day that was for me, as opposed to being for the family... Of course I'd be lying if I said I never do anything for me. I go to Rock concerts occasionally and watch MTV 2 when I'm cooking. I can't try and explain those away as being for the families benefit, although Eldest K is turning into quite the connoisseur of alternative music and has been to a concert with us. I also write this blog of course, which is pure self-indulgence. Still, the bulk of my time is taken up with mummy things and household things. I seldom do anything or go anywhere alone, or with my friends, without at least one of my children with me.
However, recently I have introduced a new, sacred me time. Twice a week I am going to adult dance classes - a proper classical ballet class and an adult tap class. I've always liked exercise - but am not a fan of running. Added to that, as I'm sure many of you know - finding time with small people to do gym classes and things can be very hard. About 2 years ago I joined the local hockey club and loved playing my weekly matches. However, it could eat as much as 6 hours out of my Saturday sometimes, not to mention 2 hours practice during the week. I just couldn't justify leaving my family for that long, or making them all spend every Saturday watching me play - so I gave up. I've tried jazzercise and zumba, but neither excited me that much - a little too whooot-whooot for me. I tried yoga and Pilates - loved the stretches but not enough cardio work for me. So when the dance school decided to offer adult classes I was a little excited. I've always loved to dance, and did a fair amount of ballet and modern as a child. But, of course, I grew up and lost interest and that was that. But I still do a little bit of dancing in the kitchen when I think no-one is looking. The odd leap or two. No other form of exercise has every quite compared I must say.
The other reason I love going to dance class is because in the last 6 months I have lost an entire 10 year old's worth of weight (24 kg for the sensible metricated readers, 50 pounds for the Americans, 3.5 stone for the imperialists) - and the strangest thing has happened - I'm full of energy. As a teenager I was prone to bouts of bouncing uncontrollably or running up and down the stairs in order to be able to sit still, but that person has been gone for a very long time. However, my new svelte persona does occasionally get a little hyper and desperately wants to expend some energy.
So there it is - I'm a dancer again. Not a very good one of course, but who cares about that. I have been to two ballet classes. So far I have discovered that if my legs remember what to do, my arms are completely lost, or visa versa and that ballet is tough on the muscles - stairs should be avoided on Thursdays. I have also discovered that while I can pirouette left still, my body is incapable of turning right. My sister has pointed out that I share this dilemia with Derek Zoolander, which is a rather dubious honour to say the least. I did my first tap class ever last night. What a hoot! It took me at least 5 minutes to realise that my tap shoes were not making a noise. I mean, have you ever? What kind of tap shoes make no noise? They were also too small (I got them free off the dance teacher - they were a second hand pair that no one had ever wanted due to their size). I was moderately better once I took the shoes off and my toes weren't hurting. Of course tap dancing with no shoes on is a bit like turning up for your driving exam without a car. But hey - I've ordered some on line. I hope they are here in time for my next class!
So this is my me time, and from now on its sacrosanct... I hope to blog about our motley crew's progress regularly and post a video of our first recital in the near future. Or not, because actually we are mostly rubbish. But we all have great big goofy smiles on our faces all lesson. I wonder why? Maybe it is thought of our husbands at home with the kids on a Friday night while we are out reliving our childhoods and toning our inner thighs...
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