Wednesday, December 7

Age of Innocents

Tonight was my nieces 8th birthday. It was a night of chaos. A night of 15-20 7 & 8 yaer old girls dancing, singing, screaming... It was fantastic!

At one point, they were all standing in front of the TV with something called "Bella TV" Its a dance instruction DVD that shows kids how to dance hip hop. All of these girls were glued to the screen; trying to figure out the next move. One girl in particular really caught my attention. She was a bit chubbier than the other girls. Her clothes were a bit shabbier and overall, she was just a bit different than all the rest of the girls in attendance. Yet, she was in the middle of the group, giving it all she had. And, I have to say, she caught on to the moves with coordination most of the other girls were still a bit too young or shy to have.

And it got me thinking. When will this girl notice that she is different? What will happen to this girls vivaciousness on that day? Will she continue to thrive, and tell the world to take a hike, or will she lose that spark she has and begin hiding on the sidelines. I want to say, that I hope that day never comes.

When does it happen? When did we all start looking at our peers as our critics? What happens to us as children to keep us from singing at the top of our lungs, or dancing like nobody is watching? These kids were so accepting! None of these innocents noticed the differences they had from one another.

1 comment:

Erika said...

that was really insightful and well done.
We know Bella Danceralla, (the ballet version) very well around here too. Emie believes she is the next prima ballerina, I think she has me convienced too.