School Dance Drama

The Valentine's Day dance is an annual event at the Tumbleweed's school. The kids may be preschoolers, but that doesn't mean that a school dance is without tears. It may not be teenage boy-girl drama, but preschoolers can certainly be challenging.

Challenge #1 - Everyone cannot win.
The dance DJ had good intentions, but any game a preschooler plays that involves "getting out" is going to result in tears. Picture 40-50 kids playing a game where only one kid wins... most of them will be crying before the end. While some kids took the loss well, or didn't understand the game, there were lots of kids who instantly burst into tears upon losing - including the Tumbleweed. That is not to say that learning how to lose gracefully is not an important skill, but crying kids certainly can take the fun out of a party.

Challenge #2 - Being a friend isn't always easy.
"Friendship" is still a developing concept for most preschoolers. They may know the names of lots of kids, and consider all of their classmates to be their friends, but they don't know to act like a friend. Granted, when forced into social situations most people get uncomfortable. So when a grown-up says to a kid "honey, [insert name here] is in your class, why don't you two go play together?" you can't always expect a favorable reaction. The fact that I remember awkward, forced moments from my childhood apparently doesn't stop me from doing the same thing to the Tumbleweed.

But these things aside, the Tumbleweed had fun at the dance. She loved the limbo and started everyone doing the crab-walk under the low pole. She skipped around the dance floor to "Cotton-Eyed Joe". And she spent the last 20 minutes (after most people had left) chasing around the room with a boy in her class. That was probably her favorite part.

Now I just have to spend the next 5 years preparing for pre-teen drama...