Dancing Bears: A High School Do-Over

I once had aspirations of becoming a dancer, but lack of support at home made this impossible. My parents, being of limited means, put me in a third-rate dance studio, Miss Dolores's. I danced ballet with her for a season or two, and participated in a recital or two, but no one took my talent seriously or gave it the nurturing it deserved. I have regretted this since the day I realized that Joyce Everett was going to be a prima ballerina, and I was not. My parents, however, had another thought, which was that I was exceptional in having been born with two left feet.

One of my great regrets in life was that I was never prosperous enough to buy my children things like dancing lessons. I had hoped to live vicariously through my daughters, but alas, this dream was also crushed by the bruising realities of being a single-income family. Not only was I not to compete with Joyce, my daughters would not compete with hers. Life can be unfair, I know, but I try not to be bitter.

Just when I knew all was lost, the day came when one of my daughters, then a junior in high school, announced that she was going to audition for the school dance team. At last my moment had come to shine! I was thrilled. I now got to get up and drive her to school at 6 a.m., so she could practice. Also, since girls need dance clothes, and dance teams can't be seen going around in the same thing all the time, I got to spend $750 on dance clothes.

The dance team coach assured me that money was not a problem. I could work it off. I began by selling expensive stuff that no one wanted to buy. From there, I progressed to chaperoning the homecoming dance. This activity was presented as mandatory. My husband and I must chaperone the dance for 2 hours each. My husband could not chaperone for 4 hours, and my daughter could not chaperone for any time at all. He had to work for 2 hours and so did I. I did not ask what was required of single parents, because, frankly, I was entirely too enchanted with the thought of getting to be in high school again, especially at a dance.