Being a dance mom means being a personal Uber driver to a preteen tyrant in a leotard. It means sacrificing spring weekends to dark and loud auditoriums that smell of Aquanet and anxiety. It means thousands of dollars on bedazzled leggings and tacky crop tops. Your bathroom is fogged with a choking cloud of hairspray, and you are yelled at for not being able to professionally apply false eyelashes at 6AM. It means panicking that the 65 pound dance bag that is larger than your child is somehow missing a vital accessory, and you will discover that fact only moments before needing it. It means spending the GDP of a small nation on jazz shoes and stirrup tights and safety pins and bun formers and snacks. It means arriving at 7AM for a 2PM dance and 10PM awards – fueled exclusively by Starbucks and pixie sticks. It means being the post-performance emotional support human for a hormonal time bomb in rhinestones.
BUT
Being a dance mom means watching your kid shine under the stage lights, doing what she loves most. It means witnessing her grow in confidence and grace, one pas de bourrée at a time. It means discovering time management skills you never knew you had and seeing her find them too. It means discipline and resilience and hard work – life lessons in sequins. It means having a front row seat to her bounce back after disappointment, and cheering her on through every win, wobble, and pirouette. It means watching your baby become a beautiful young woman, one who knows how to work hard, navigate team dynamics, and take pride in the process. Being a dance mom is watching Lulu grow comfortable in her own skin and carry that glittery stage presence into the real world. It means mother-daughter road trips full of core memories that will last forever. You get to be there for the highs, the lessons, the sparkle, and the magical growth in between – definitely worth the dance class tuition.
