Half my heart

My deepest apologies to all the dance moms out there, but I never wanted to be one. 

When my daughter was in kindergarten, she begged to do dance. Technically, she wanted to do the tumbling class, but it was full. So she did the dances with the pink shoes and the noisy ones too.

At first she was all about it. She played in the shoes, twirled in the tutus. But after awhile, when it was time to go to dance class, she was slow to find her bag. Slow to get to the car. Quiet on the drive. 

“Do you still want to do dance?” I asked her. She didn’t answer me right away. She looked out the window as we drove to her class, her eyebrows furrowed. A giveaway that her little brain was at work. 

“I only love it with half my heart.” 

That was the litmus test that made me no longer a dance mom. 

We’ve used this heart test many times over the years. For our kids, and ourselves.

As we grow, our passions change. Our focus broadens in places and narrows in others. We aren’t always “All in” all the time. 

And that’s okay. 

Kids will often follow the lead of their adults. They show up. They go through the motions. They rinse and repeat. 

They do it because they love us. They want to make us happy. 

But it’s important for them to assess what makes them happy. To know what they love. To put their energy and growth towards something that is meaningful to their own heart. To chisel the calling in their own life.

Take the heart test. “Do you love it with your whole heart?” See where it takes you. Watch them grow. 

Bonus points if it gets you out of dance mom duties… just kidding. That was a joke 😉

#playyou

Coach D