You know how some people say their kids are really bad then you meet them and they are tiny angels? My toddler is not one of those kids. He is the kid that is very mischevious. He is constantly running, yelling, jumping and getting into trouble.

Yes, he is a little three year old boy, but the amount of damage he can do in a short amount of time blows my mind. He has earned the name Hurricane Henry. He has the stubborn nature of both me and my husband combined with blond hair, blue eyes and an adorable fat face.

About two weeks ago, Henry had his first dance recital. Let’s just start with me saying that I have actually never been to one of his dance classes. He is in the Creative Two’s at my mother in law’s dance studio. She takes him to work with her on Friday’s while I’m at the office. I get pictures and hear stories but have never been able to attend more than 15 minutes of a class. Therefore, I had no idea what to expect from recital.

Henry’s class was dancing to a song about trains. He received his costume about three weeks beforehand. All the little girls had adorable tutus with red and white striped leotards. Henry’s outfit was a red shirt with white polka dots and little crystals on it and a pair of denim-looking spandex pants. Every time I showed it to him he would scream “NOOOOOOOO!!!” and run into the other room. I have to admit, it was out of his comfort zone of sweatpants and footed pajamas. It is now in his closet in case he is ever invited to a disco party.

I was hoping that maybe after a few weeks he would change his mind about the costume. Nope. The morning of dress rehearsal I got it out and the kid had a freaking meltdown. I honestly don’t know if I could have even held him down and forced it on him. I did manage to get him in jeans and a red t-shirt.

We arrived at rehearsal and his class was standing in the hall backstage waiting for their turn. We stood in line and I chatted with the other moms. Henry ran to the lone chair in the hallway and sat down in it.

About ten seconds later the fire alarm goes off. I thought, “Well crap, that’s no good. There are about 500 people here. I hope the fire isn’t real.” Then I turned around to see Henry standing up in the chair and the flashing fire alarm going off next to him. MY KID PULLED THE FIRE ALARM AT A DANCE REHEARSAL WITH 500 OTHER PEOPLE THERE!

Luckily, no one started running for the nearest exit.

My first reaction was to yell, “No Henry!! Damnit!” along with a few other words I probably shouldn’t repeat. I grabbed him from the chair. This of course surprised him and made him burst into tears. Then I ran backstage and told the stage manager, aka my brother in law, that it was a false alarm. All the while Henry is uncontrollably sobbing.

I am not sure if fire trucks actually made it to the RiverPark Center or if they were called off in time. If they weren’t called off in time, I apologize to the Owensboro Fire Department.

Needless to say, Henry did not make it onto stage for rehearsal. He sat on the side and sobbed the entire time. We couldn’t even bribe him with a sucker. I finally gave up. When we were walking back to the car he asked me if he could get his sucker. Ummm no. You didn’t dance, you refused to wear your costume AND you pulled the fire alarm. No sucker for you, kid.

Later I called my parents and told them not to worry about coming the next day. I didn’t want them to waste their Sunday watching other people’s grand kids dance. They both refused and said they were coming no matter what.

Recital was at 4:30 pm the next day. I tried so hard to keep Henry in a great mood so he could showcase his dance skills. When it was nap time, he laid in bed for three hours and never fell asleep. This led to him being SUPER cranky.

I had to give the costume one last ditch effort. Huge mistake. He went from super cranky to absolutely unbearable. I threw him in his jeans, red t-shirt and bright orange Natives and off we went.

My husband has worked backstage at every dance recital since he was old enough to stand so he took Henry backstage and I went to my seat. I was dreading that I would be able to hear him screaming from the audience of about 1,000 people. It was a sold out show.

Right before it was his class’s turn to go on, Tyler – the stage manager – texted me a picture. Henry appeared to be asleep in a chair backstage. Fabulous. He decided to take his nap.

When it was time for Henry’s number, the whole class went onstage. Except for Henry. About 15 seconds in, he walked onto the stage with my mother-in-law Joy. Hooray! She tried to leave him on stage by himself and he made a quick exit back to her. Damn. She brought him out again and he made another quick exit. Third time was a charm and he actually danced! It was adorable! He smiled and jumped and ran and was so excited. I might be exaggerating, but I think he stole the show. He definitely got some laughs from the audience. Bright orange shoes and all.

Until Next Time,

Jamie