High Seas, Let's Go!

We are officially engrossed in our church VBS this week. Yes, we've only been here for two weeks, and I'm already teaching VBS - it's just how I roll; I like jumping in & not wasting time. We're doing High Seas  (along with, I think, almost every other church in America! My friends in OH & PA did it last week, my friend in GA did it two weeks ago, other friends in MI, PA, & IL are doing it next month.) I kind of like that it's so popular, b/c the songs, lingo, & Bible points will become a shared experience (you know how I value the feeling of shared experience connecting people!!!) that perhaps will become a part of bigger pop culture, since so many are experiencing it nationwide.

Our church only offers VBS for Kindergarten-5th grade (which I HATE for us b/c poor Annelise gets left out, but she can come if I'm a worker, so I'm working! Not that I wouldn't anyway, but it was the ultimate incentive.) This is the smallest age range I've ever seen a church do, but it IS easier on the workers to not have lots of 3's & 4's. I've got K-1st grade, and Will is in my "crew" - not by my asking. [Remember, I've always been adamant about NOT teaching any of Annelise's dance classes*, b/c it's not fair to her (I'd always make her go last, so no one can accuse me of favoring her) or to the others, (b/c they don't have their mommies there.)] Sure enough, Will wanted to be on my lap & attached to my side the whole first day, and today was only slightly better. He is just a different "student" on his own; he wants to play "übersensitive child who needs Mommy" when I'm there, but he is so strong & independent w/o us. It's really not a big deal; he didn't deter from the other kids' experiences, but I just want to make sure he's still getting everything out of this that he can. I was more worried that Sis wouldn't feel engaged enough, b/c they have her in a 3/4 year old nursery preschool class; I wanted her to do everything Will is, but I feel like she got the point of the lessons even more than he did, so whatever she's getting is great!

*Dance classes - everyone keeps asking if I'm going to teach dance here. I just don't know. Most of the dance schools in this area are competition, which is not what I do, and the one that's not has their senior students as apprentice teachers (brilliant! an honor for the seniors & FREE teachers for the school!) so I seriously doubt they'll need extra paid help with that program in place. I just don't have a strong feeling either way right now, and who knows what our schedules will end up like with school in the fall. Will's 1st grade will be 8:45-3:45, but I don't know if Sis will be in Montessori from 9-12 or 12-3. (We've got to get that nailed down ASAP, too.) Plus, I *am* doing my MOPS steering team here, again, so that's Fridays. We'll see...

Comments

  1. That is the VBS my church was going to do this year. We always do the Group one! However, we didn't have enough people that would work it this year....small church, vacations, etc.

    Anyway, normally there are 5-6 churches here that do the same one as us. I've been looking for one so my daughter could go. There aren't any doing that one here this year. :( So I think I'm going to just find another one to take her too. I'm glad your kids are having fun and you are enjoying yourself!

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  2. I want your opinion on the dance competition stuff. My one sis has her daughter in a dance school where she is competing and it is soooo time consuming. It just seems like a lot for a 7 year old. My other sis has her daughter in a regular school and they just had their recital. It was really cute. I'm just curious to what you think of the comp dance since you're a teacher.

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  3. Awwww, Leslie! High Seas was really wonderful! I hope you can find something!!!

    Reynie - it's a touchy subject. My cousin has done competition dance for years; she is an amazing dancer & really excels. Her father passed away 3.5 years ago at Christmas, and b/c competition is soooo involved, it's been a big blessing for her & her mom to have that to throw themselves into to keep them going. That said - even though I looooove watching her routines - I don't believe in it for Annelise or to teach it, myself. It can be dangerous: many competition programs push their girls to do moves beyond what their little bodies are actually capable of safely doing at their ages (they can physically do the moves, but they can cause easy injuries or even developmental damage down the road) to get the highest degrees of difficulty & best scores. I'm also not on board with the extreme cost of traveling all over the country, the often-skimpier costumes and sometimes-too-sexy-for-the-age moves a lot of them think are "so cute". (I happen to *not* think it would be adorable for Annelise to chest pump at the audiance. That's just me.) I think competition has its value in promoting dedication and serious commitment, but I am a champion of classical training where the focus is learning steps that you can turn into many routines, instead of just learning 50 straight routines. There's also more focus on developing the individual dancers, b/c you're not just trying to choreograph everyone into pattern each week. A big criticism of competition girls in the professional dance world is that they can seem very fake & robotic when they perform; maybe it's b/c they get bored & jaded? I don't know, but I *DO* know nothing matches the thrill of a girl's yearly dance recital when it's a special once or twice a year event!

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  4. Sues, I could not agree with what you said more! That is exactly what I've taken away from my niece's experience thus far! I really am having a hard time with the costumes (a bikini type top for a little one and dance thrust--please!).And my sister has her family at a church that is very conservative (even more so than my views) and it seems very contradicting to teach such extreme moral values and then stick her out in front of a crowd showing her skin and vibrating around! I am at a loss at how to discuss it with my sister though! Her heart is in the right place as she only wants the best for her daughter but it just seems like the schools she was in before the current competition one was so much better for her (and cheaper to minus the travel they do every weekend). I guess the best I can do is pray for her and the situation and ask God to give me the right words when the time is right! I am just worried! Parenting is such a hard thing to do bc you can so easily get blinders on (and in this case, I think my sister has been blinded by the school teachers--sucked in totally!). I make no claims that I would do it better but ugh, the worry I have for her. I suppose when the time is right, the words will come.

    Thank you so much for your feedback! I totally appreciate it ! I danced some growing up, but my love was gymnastics and cheerleading so I feel lost at what is "right" and not in the world of dance. Well, that and it has just changed so much. It seems the world wants to just skip right over childhood anymore... but that's another subject!

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  5. I totally get how touchy it is. I would never want to hurt my cousins' feelings, and they have found good in it, but it's just not what I want us to be involved in at all. (That chest pumping is the ultimate nauseating factor to me!) I'll pray for you to have the right words, too, for the perfect moment. :-)

    Now I'll need your help with gymnastics, b/c Annelise is just meant for it, and I know NOTHING! What should a 4-year-old be safely doing? How early can/do they start tumbling? I certainly don't want to push her early, but I never tried tumbling until I was old enough to be scared, and to this day, I can't even cartwheel! I don't want her doing anything that her body's not ready for, but I want her to try tumbling before she's old enough to get as scared as I was! :-P

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