gettin' jiggy with it

ok, so right up front, i'm going to warn you that this post is rather long. i'm sorry about that, i usually try really hard to condense as much as possible, mostly so anyone who reads my blog doesn't unexpectedly nod off to sleep. however, there were so many great details about this event that i don't want to forget, that i gave myself permission to include them all, even if it means having a lengthy post. at least it's kind of funny. i hope.

last friday at 6am, i took my groggy, sleepy self downstairs to rouse the troops and get the morning going. but instead i ran into spencer who was pacing the floor with an anxious expression. i had to rub my eyes because i couldn't believe that not only was he awake, but he was wearing a shirt and tie, had already made his lunch, eaten breakfast and brushed his teeth. what the? then my sleepy brain caught up with my eyes and i recalled the day's agenda - today was the day for the highly anticipated SIXTH GRADE DANCE! he must have seen the smirk on my face because he blurted out, "i couldn't sleep all night! i'm so excited (meaning nervous) about the dance". ok seriously, are we talking about my son here?

let's back up. spencer's elementary school has some fantastic sixth grade teachers. they teach the students a whole bunch of dances over several months in preparation for the big day. the kids had to partner up with several different girls during the practice sessions and learned to swing, and two-step, as well as a bunch of line dances like the hustle, the electric slide, and spencer's favorite, men in black.

luckily, i was signed up to help with the dance, so after getting my nervous nelly, i mean spencer, out the door with some assurances from mom that he would be fine, i got myself ready to go. i say "luckily", because the spencer i found in the elaborately decorated school gym that day, was not the spencer who normally lives at my house. i was stunned to see a whole other side to my son i had no idea existed. the truth be told, i didn't even know they had been practicing these dances, spencer had never mentioned it to me.

i'm not sure what he was nervous about exactly, because other than moving a little faster than the beat of the music, spencer is a total natural. when it was time for a "partner" dance, all the kids looked at their dance cards - yes dance cards, found their partners and danced like it was no big deal to be holding hands with someone of the opposite sex. i think this is HUGE, what an awesome thing the teachers have done for these kids, they took the fear out not looking cool by requiring them to dance. with the dance cards and line dances in between there were no wall-flowers, no one was left out, everyone was having fun. especially spencer...basically all day long i was wishing that i had brought a video camera or at least a stronger flash. it was so much darker in the gym than i would've guessed. i only live a minute or so away from the school but i was having so much fun watching spencer the grump's alter ego, disco spencer, that i didn't dare leave the school for fear of missing something. there were several things that i enjoyed about this day, but watching him do the men in black line dance will definitely be a memory i will treasure.

(baby just walk with me, just walk with me) (baby just slide, and slide)

a few other random things i don't want to forget about this day:

*during the first refreshment break of the dance, spencer suggested that the teachers let the ladies go first. it was maybe my proudest mom moment EVER hearing all the moms and girls go, "aaawwwwww". of course all the boys groaned. again, who is this kid?

*a mom asking me, "oh you're spencer's mom?" and me nervously replying, "yes". then she proceded to tell me about how her daughter was so happy to find that spencer was listed on her dance card (the teacher's put their lists together) because spencer is such a good dancer. and it's way more fun to dance with spencer than the other boys because they pretend to hate it.

*spencer adding his own little "saturday night fever" disco flair to the boot scoot boogie.

*i overheard one girl talking to another little girl when she said, "be ready when you have to dance with spencer, his mom takes like a thousand pictures for just one song".

*giggling like crazy with kathi at all the boys, and even a few girls, who had absolutely NO rhythm. those kids were highly entertaining to the moms, hopefully they didn't notice our giggling.

not to worry though, spencer's fun-loving, easy-going alter ego stuck around until he got home from school and learned that he had a few chores to do before he could make weekend plans. in that instant, my son, spencer the grump, returned and disco spencer went back into hiding. but i did download, "men in black" from itunes to try and coax him out from time to time.