Day Sixty-Three

In that other timeline, the timeline where travel was locked down the second something was off and contact tracing successfully contained this whole thing ... in that timeline, it would have been recital weekend for this kid.

She would have had 11 different dances spread between four recitals, leading to a total of 12 hours of dance in two days.

In that timeline, Alexis would have been VERY happy. Recital weekend has always been one of her favorite things in the whole world, and this year was set to be special. Some of her favorite choreography ever was going to be on display. She was ready to rock it.

Alas.

The flip-side of that giant pile of suck is that OMG, Y'ALL. I DIDN'T HAVE TO SIT THROUGH 12 HOURS OF RECITALS. I get it. I know I'm not supposed to find happiness in that, BUT I DO. That's not to say I don't enjoy watching Alexis. I really, really do. It's that the entirety of dance recitals is something that I don't relate to. There would have been a grandma who wouldn't have stopped talking. Some mom would have saved an entire row of seats for no particular reason. Some sibling would have crinkled candy wrapper. And then there would have been that dad with the iPad videotaping the whole thing, thereby blocking everyone else's view.

It's all a lot.

None of it is my favorite and it's often a huge reminder that I'm not one of them. I'm not a dance mom. By that I mean my identity is not tied to my kids' activities. My life sort of revolves around those activities, but not really because I find ways to do other things while the girls enjoy the things they love. I used to work a lot while Alexis was at dance class, for example. Give me a laptop and some wifi and I can get a LOT done. Cheer is the same. The girls both have cheer practice, but I don't get energy from being at those practices.

There's nothing wrong with that, by the way. There's also nothing wrong with getting a lot of energy from watching kids practice. Different strokes, y'know?

But I've noticed something. I've noticed that those moms who watch every practice, the ones who have strong opinions about costumes, the ones whose identity is tied to their kid ... they aren't okay right now. They get energy from tossing on that bedazzled t-shirt with the words "Dance Mom" across the front and their daughter's name across the back. The live for recital weekend. They are counting the moments until the next big competition.

Except right now they aren't. And they literally have no idea what to do with themselves. And they seriously don't know how to have a conversation with their dancer. If they can't live for activities, what do they live for?

Seriously, those moms aren't okay right now. If you know one, check in on her. Support her. Don't judge her, but maybe help her find out who her kid is when a life revolving around dance isn't possible? Because she's lost right now.

Day Sixty-Two

I don't cook anymore. Don't ask me how that happened. I just know that every time I try to cook, Alexis shows up and does it for me.

I'm not asking questions.

Other than, "Can you make this?"

So, Alexis, there are two packages of the Trolls Oreos in the pantry. (The blue pack, y'all. THEY ARE FREAKIN MAGICAL.) Take this recipe and adapt it to include the greatest Oreos ever invented. Just lose the lemon and pick a flavoring of some sort to add to the cheesecake.

I'll report back on this little experiment. No worries.

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No Bake Lemon Creme Oreo Cheesecakes

1 package Lemon Creme Oreos
1 8-oz package of cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
Zest from one lemon

1. Toss the Lemon Creme Oreos into a food processor and smash them up into tiny little summery lemon pieces. Hey! Look! You're done making the crust! Spread it through all of your little bowls, cups, or whatever you're using to contain the cheesecake. (Yes, I know a "crust" technically requires butter and stuff, but let's pretend you're saving calories. Yeah. That. It's not because of the lazy.)

2. Large mixing bowl. Hand mixer. Make the cream cheese and sugar do a little dance. Add the lemon juice, vanilla extract, cream, and lemon zest. Make everything dance some more using low speed. You'll want to go until the cheesecake stuff fluffs up. It takes about three minutes.

3. Scoop the cheesecake stuff into your containers. You're done!

(I got about 10 martini glasses full of cheesecake deliciousness out of this.)

Day Sixty-One