I signed Eva up for beginning ballet classes on Tuesday afternoons. It’s a good way for her to get some exercise, to learn to be aware of her body and that she can control her movements with a little practice, discipline and forethought. At first she didn’t like it because there were a couple of more experienced girls in her class who already some of the movements, and Eva (ever the perfectionist) became quickly frustrated that she couldn’t immediately do the same. But now she’s starting to enjoy it, and loves to show us what she’s learned when we get home (parents aren’t allowed in the class, so I just watch through the window while entertaining Amanda and Bethany).
Whatever Eva learns, she immediately wants to teach Amanda so they can play it together. When she did swim classes over the summer, I caught Eva trying to give Amanda swimming lessons in the tub, telling her to put her face in the water and blow bubbles. Now that it’s ballet, Eva will pretend she’s the teacher and tell Amanda how to hold her feet and point her toes. Amanda goes along with it good-naturedly for the most part, but I’ve learned to be more watchful when Eva chooses the game. Last month she decided to play “hairdresser” and cut Amanda’s hair three days in a row. The first day I found some of Amanda’s golden locks (and some from a toy horse) stashed with the preschool scissors in a drawer (she had done a good job and Amanda’s hair was already layered, so I didn’t notice at first). The second day I noticed her hair was again shorter, and Eva confessed she’d found the scissors that I’d hidden. The third day Amanda came running into my bedroom at 7:30am to yell, “Eva cutting my hair!”, and it turned out she’d found another forgotten pair of scissors in a kitchen drawer. Now she’s only allowed to use scissors under direct supervision for school projects, and then they’re quickly confiscated.
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