Here is the promised story from the ballet post.
I was so excited for Ava’s first day of ballet that I wanted to make certain that we were definitely, definitely not late. In fact, I wanted to arrive early enough for Ava to meet the teacher and get acquainted with the room before the other girls arrived. As many of you know punctuality is not a one of my strengths, so I determined to take every step possible to prevent tardiness. When I registered for the 3:45 class several weeks ago, I wrote down that her class started at 3:30 and then promptly forgot that I had taken this precaution. On the day of the class, I took the advice of many well-meaning friends and estimated how long it would take me to walk to the class (15 minutes), get Ava dressed (5 minutes), put Ava’s hair in a bun (20 minutes), snap a few pictures (5 minutes) and then counted back from the time that I wanted to arrive (revolutionary, I know). Since I wanted to arrive 15 minutes early and I now thought the class started at 3:30, I estimated that we would need to start getting ready for ballet at 2:30. Somehow during this brand new exercise on planning a departure and arrival I swapped out 2:30 for 1:30, while thinking it was actually 2:30.
I was so proud of myself that the fully prepared ballet duo were in the stroller and walking down the sidewalk at promptly 3:00 (though it was actually 2:00). I was positively grinning when we made it to the park in 10 minutes. I was five more minutes early–unprecedented! I inquired at the front desk where the class was to take place. I received a strange look from the receptionist who looked at the clock which to her clearly read “2:10″ and replied that the class didn’t start until 3:45. I chuckled as I explained that I must have written the wrong time down to make sure that wasn’t late and asked if she could direct me to the room so that I could wait there until the class started. Again the woman wrinkled her brow and cocked her head to one side. She opened her mouth as though she was going to say something, and then just pointed to a room across the foyer. I thought she must be having a hard day, so I smiled and swung the stroller around to the direction of the room.
We had “thirty” extra minutes, so I let Ava dance around the room while I shot video of her. We talked about what the class would be like and I showed her the ballet bar. I had know idea being early could be so relaxing.
Well, by “3:35″ I began to wonder when the teacher would arrive–didn’t she need to set-up? And then by “3:45″ I was quite concerned that not only was there no ballet instructor, but there were no students as well. Ava and I gathered our things and walked out to talk with the friendly receptionist.
“Doesn’t the ballet class start at 3:45?” I asked.
“Yes, it starts at 3:45.”
“Hmm, well, it’s 3:50 and there is no one here. Are you sure the class starts this week?”
The lady looked up at the clock and then looked at me and then looked up at the clock again.
“Well, I check with someone, then,” she finally replied.
“Okay, we’ll go back and wait in the room.”
At about “3:55,” the befuddled receptionist came into our room and informed me again that the class starts at 3:45. Before I had a chance to interject, she continued explaining that it was in fact 2:55 now. She pointed at the great big clock that I had been staring at for 45 minutes and said slowly, “see it says, TWO, fifty-five.” I will let you imagine the shades of pink and red that crept across my face as I began to replay all the events of the previous hour.
Yes, yes, we arrived at Ava’s ballet class an hour and thirty-five minutes early. There were not enough time to walk home and back, and we were both terribly sick of that room, so we strolled down to a little cafe and had a chocolate chip peanut butter cookie treat.
We returned in time to meet the teacher before the other 14 girls arrived. Ava greeted each new ballerina with “hi, I’m Ava, what’s your name? I spent the next hour peeking in the window at 15 little ballet shoes twirling around a room. Sweet, sweet reward!
–but I think I will try for ten minutes early next time.
