My heart swelled

Tonight Dante performed with a group from his school in a Schools Dance Competition. Every year our school enters a few groups. Some of them are picked for the finals, some of them are not. Only a select number of kids from each class participate and finally this year Dante was chosen to be a part of it. His dancing has become good enough for public viewing, apparently!

They did an interpretation of Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. Is there anyone out there in the Western World that doesn't know this classic children's book?

The kids were divided into three groups - the trees, the fish and the Wild Things. D was one of the latter. They had wonderful costumes!


One of Dante's friends did an incredible job as Max. Dressed in a furry suit of "Sully" (the main character from Monsters Inc.), he looked cute and added fun and vivaciousness to the role. When the curtains opened onto their performance, the entire audience simultaneously let out a huge "Awww..." and he certainly made the show.

We got to see the rehearsal beforehand:


And watched the actual show afterwards (at great expense - they make a killing out of us sucker-parents). Our kids were the first act of the night. And oh! they were so amazingly gorgeous up there on the stage. We had great seats right up the front. But since we got there just as the lights dimmed we stood to the side.

I giggled. I clutched Dan's arm, my face lit up with pride. Tears even came to my eyes. It was the most wonderous thing. I couldn't be more proud, not just for our boy but for all our kids.

It was a great end to a long day after a week of wretched illness.