“Oh, there’s one!” I said to my husband as I spotted an open street parking spot on a side-curb lined with cars. He turned the wheel and swooped in. It was a full house. The kids were ecstatic. I went against my better judgment and personal rule about not telling my children the details of exciting things to happen in our week too soon. They’d known about the big DanceParty! since Wednesday, had been practicing dance moves since Thursday, and on Friday, I thought they might not be able to contain themselves until the next morning.
The kids nearly bounded out of the car, ready for the dancing to begin. We walked in to the Kiddie Academy of Abingdon, Kiddie Academy’s corporate flagship location in Maryland. Immediately, we heard the #1 song in the country blaring over the interactive whiteboard, culminating in a hyper release of kids and parents sing-screaming the end of the chorus, “don’t believe me, just watch!” It is a catchy tune.
Kids of all ages were everywhere, most of them waving different colored silk scarves in the air, near the ground, all around, a single tail of the scarf at the whim of a child’s fist soaring through the air. Not a single person was sitting and not a single child was frowning. Except mine.
The little boy who could barely survive the anticipation leading up to this DanceParty! would not move into the crowd. Until his little brother took his hand, and they walked forward together. Right after I melted to the floor from the sight, we all started dancing and singing Uptown Funk. It was more of a free-for-all than a choreographed program a la High School Musical. I thought learning choreography might be intimidating, as my signature dance move is the shopping cart. But just dancing a la Julia Louis Dreyfus’ moves in Seinfeld – we could manage that. And we nailed it.
The boys can’t wait to meet Curious George at Kiddie Academy’s next big event this summer: Storytime Live! Hopefully by then, I won’t still have Uptown Funk stuck in my head.
See you this summer,
Kiddie Academy Mom
