I revisited 1989 and it wasn't pretty.

I'm still editing photos of the girls dancing from the recital dress rehearsal and in order to keep that post a manageable size, I thought I would talk about my recital experience separately.  First of all, I really think the recital should be about the girls, not me.  I want to enjoy watching them dance and take photos during the rehearsal.  I didn't expect getting myself ready to take so long.  Sure, I could have been lazy and not done anything different with my hair, but everyone else was playing along, and I wanted to join in.  There's just so much to do that weekend and taking time for my costume ate up precious minutes.

This year, my class danced to a montage of songs from the 1980s, one song clip for each year.  In case you're curious, here are the songs:

1980 - Hit Me With Your Best Shot
1981 - Jessie's Girl
1982 - Hey Mickey
1983 - Maniac
1984 - Footloose
1985 - Walk This Way
1986 - Addicted to Love
1987 - Bad
1988 - Shake Your Love
1989 - Hangin' Tough

So, yeah, you know NKOTB had to be included or I was going to peace out of this one.

For my 1980s costume, I decided to dress like it was 1989 seeing as I still had my NKOTB t-shirt from that year.  (Joey's my favorite, by the way.)  Those of you who lived through that time period will understand why the t-shirt is huge on me.  Back then, if you wanted an NKOTB t-shirt you had to buy it at a concert and they never had smaller sizes.  I came across the acid washed jeggings at Old Navy.  They only came in kid sizes because even Old Navy knows that no adult would ever willingly wear those.  I attempted to recreate a spiral perm by twisting my hair before rolling it up into hot rollers.

At first, the whole '80s costume thing was hysterical. My children were horrified when I came downstairs the Friday night before wearing the t-shirt and jeans.  Do you guys remember the tuck and poof?  That's what we used to do with our t-shirts because nothing was fitted back then.  You tucked it in and then you poofed it out.

"Are you going to be sitting in the audience like that?"

"PLEASE wear a jacket over it!"

"Hopefully other people have more embarrassing costumes than yours."

So, yeah, the whole embarrassing your kids part was fun.

I was running around for most of the rehearsal either making sure the girls were ready to go or taking photos.  Emily and Allie had a jazz dance right before my dance so I photographed them, handed the camera off to Allie and ran up to the side of the stage.  I wasn't nervous.  There was too much going on to even think about being nervous.  Approximately 30 seconds into the dance, I royally trucked up something I've never messed up before and I was so angry.  Haha.


Yes, the white socks were intentional.  This was shortly after I messed up.  The look of defeat.

"It's okay, Mama.  Sometimes our nerves get the best of us."  (Words of wisdom from a 12 year old.)

But I wasn't nervous.


You can't really see it but I think I perfected that ratty '80s perm look.  My favorite costume was the woman all in black.  She had that badass '80s look and it was awesome.

For recital day, I decided to abandon the tuck and poof and tied the side of my shirt with a hair elastic.  The tuck and poof was adding extra weight onto my midsection.  I also opted to wear street clothes to the recital and changed into my costume during intermission.  Our dance was in the second act.  For the rehearsal, I was wearing earrings straight from the '80s.  I still have a box with my '80s jewelry.  (hashtag hoarder)  They were heavy though so I changed to hoop earrings for the recital.  I also went with a high side ponytail tied with a fluorescent scrunchie.

While I was wearing regular clothes for the first part of the recital, I still had my fake '80s hair.  I don't have bangs to puff up so I did a fake puff up front.  It was hysterical watching people staring at me, trying to figure out why an old lady was wearing her hair as such.

I'm terrible at selfies.

I was in the audience ready to go for my dance, except for my tap shoes.  I watched all three girls tap to The Greatest Show and then I went back to check on them and change my shoes.  Emily and Allie had three songs to change into their jazz costumes and I had planned to watch them from the side of the stage because my dance was right after.  Well, I'm walking up to the dressing room and the girls come out.  Anna needs me - spina bifida related.  I had left her bag of supplies in the van, which was a stupid mistake on my part, but I did it with reason.  Part of it was wishful thinking that we wouldn't need it, but I also didn't want it misplaced or anyone looking in it and asking questions.  MYOB.  This was their first year using their bags with the racks and I should have just tucked it away in there.  Again, stupid mistake.

After accessing the situation, I conclude that I need that bag and I'm thinking of dragging Anna out to the van but the girls bring me back to reality.  I have about six minutes.  So I decide to go to the van by myself, get the bag and have Anna wait for me sidestage (so she can watch) and I can grab her and run to the bathroom right after.  After my dance, she had four dances before she needed to be on stage.  So, really three before they start looking for her.  I stupidly sprint to the van, which was on the other side of the school.  Yes, crazy lady in '80s clothes and hair running around.  Despite running regularly, I haven't been doing any speed work.  And it showed.  When I arrived at the van, I was completely out of breath.  I ran back at a much slower pace, changed into my tap shoes and lined up to dance.  Because I've been running regularly, I recovered before I went onstage.  And I didn't mess up this time.

I really don't like to whine or complain (we are talking about a dance recital after all) but I was emotionally and physically drained that night.  I told our dance teacher that next year, I want my costume to be a black tank top, jeans (or jeggings or leggings, whatever) and regular hair and make-up.    

Another selfie attempt.  This time with a child.