Dance Like Nobody's Watching

When we moved into our house there was a decal on the wall with the following little nugget of advice: "Dance like nobody's watching. Sing like nobody's listening". We've all heard this advice before. I couldn't decide if it was poignant or ridiculous. My friend, Jeanette promptly made fun of it and steered me toward ridiculous.

                                                               Deep, right?

I sort of like it because I think we tend to stifle our inner music sometimes and we learn, all too young, that we should be too embarrassed to let it all hang out. Children help us realize this because they aren't afraid to express themselves. I often feel as though I am living in a musical. A day, or even an hour rarely goes by without someone in my household breaking into song or dance. My friend, Geoff commented just yesterday that he loved how everything Nia was saying was said in a sing-song voice. I hadn't even noticed. Nia even sings when she's eating. She does this sort of humming thing as she chews. I was only alerted to the fact that she does this because she told us recently that the teachers at her daycare "don't like her song".I didn't know what she was talking about!

Asha takes the above mentioned advice to a new level. When she got to that delightful stage of reading fluency when kids read every single thing they see, she noticed for the first time that there was writing on the wall. She was completely perplexed. "Why would you sing like no one was listening?" she asked. We automatically assume that a person would dance or sing with less gusto if there was an audience but to Asha the opposite is true. Don't all other people exist in order to be her audience?

This was also illustrated when Asha went to her dad's work recently. They went down a staircase that had a light shining down at the base of the stairs. She insisted on stopping for a brief performance. The light was a spotlight of course, just waiting for a performer to shine on! She had to let the light fulfill its spotlight destiny!

Asha sings and dances like EVERYONE'S watching on a regular basis. If there is no one around she watches herself in a mirror. Even her reflection in a window will suffice.

                                               In case you can't read lips allow me to

                                                              help. Asha is saying "ro-o-o-o-o-o-oar".

                                                              I'm not a huge Katy Perry fan but that

                                                              song is a great way to start the day.

Well unfortunately I do sing more passionately when no one is around. I am not afraid to sing in public but it's not with quite the fervor as when I'm on my own. You know those people in traffic who are singing at the top of their lungs alone in their car? That's me. If you turn up Glee loud enough you can imagine that you actually sound as good as Rachel Berry.

I had one of those "ah, what my life has become" moments the other day. I was driving back to my parents' house after a Strollercise class. (Do we all know what Strollercise is? Yes? Yet another thing that is either awesome or embarrassing, I'm not sure which. Moms do lunges and squats while pushing their babies in strollers. The babies stare at us in bewilderment as if to say "what the hell are you doing, Mom?")

Anyway, my parents babysit Asha and Nia while I go to Strollercise with Ezra. The drive back to their house is one of the rare times when I can listen to whatever I want without complaints or uncomfortable questions from children. I decided to take this opportunity to listen to some old school Cypress Hill (is there any other kind?). This is a throwback to my high school days when my rap-music-loving boyfriend introduced me to the genre. I don't care what anybody says, the rap music of the 90's was friggin awesome. Luckily, Ezra is still too young to ask questions such as "what's 'chronic', Mommy?" and "why does this man want the pigs to stay away from his crops?".

So there I was, the sun roof open on my SUV, head bobbing, singing "Insane in the Membrane" at the top of my lungs while I drove through suburbia. I had a brief moment when I was embarrassed for myself and then I decided "screw it"! I'm going to sing like nobody's listening, specifically a certain 7 year old who asks too many damn questions.

I haven't taken off the wall decal yet. Unfortunately we decided to put our piano right under it which makes it that much cheesier. I also put up a couple of pictures with equally poignant words of wisdom and David now calls it "the bossy corner".

                                                      The Bossy Corner

I think I'll keep the decal. It may be ridiculous but it gives me permission to crank Snoop Dogg and use the "n" word, at least when my children aren't around.