My son is a ballet dancer and I love it

I have a 3.5 year old little boy. He is my climber, my wild child. He has so much energy, I honestly don’t even know how to funnel it out half the time so that he will actually sleep at night.

He doesn’t walk, he runs. Everywhere.

He sees dirt piles as challenges. Fences are something to climb over.. The kid just doesn’t stop. He is a ball of endless amounts of energy.

So, I figured I needed to find something to help him channel all this energy. I decided to enroll him in dance class. It would be the perfect avenue to help let some of his energy out in a positive, creative way.

Taking dance is a tradition in our family. My mother-in-law has owned and run a dance studio in our city of Owensboro, KY for 40 years. I took dance there. I mean—I wasn’t good at all, but I did take a few classes. About 50% of the girls in our town have taken ballet, jazz or tap there.

Dance is important to our family.

So when my husband and I had a little boy, the only dance question we had was when he would start. We always wanted him to try dance, and when his energy started ramping up at full-force—we figured that was the perfect time.

My husband, Logan, took dance for 13 years. He was the only boy in the majority of his classes.

Some people find it odd for boys to be involved in an activity like dance, apparently. I get comments here and there acting surprised that he dances. People have said things like, “Why isn’t he in soccer instead?” I simply tell them that it’s because he likes taking dance. End of story.

There is so much gender bias in the world—around “boy colors” vs “girl colors” or “boy toys” vs “girl toys” and so much more. Dance has typically been perceived as a woman’s sport. But to us, dance is a beautifu, hard and worthy sport for anyone who wants to do it.

My husband moved on from dancing to become a spectacular athlete. In high school, he was an all-state athlete in baseball, swimming and football.

And do you know what he believes got him there? Dance.

His 13 years of dance helped him develop incredible balance and control over his body. He can out-yoga me any day of the week. It increased his muscle strength and endurance. His coordination and flexibility.

It also helped him develop a sense of discipline and work ethic like no one else I know.

Plus, he liked it. It was fun. He never worried about whether he should be dancing or not because he was a boy. He just danced. And that’s the mentality we want our son to have, too.

If my son gets the benefits from dance that my husband did, I am all for it. But either way, he loves his class, and that’s what matters to me. He might not always participate perfectly. He might have classes where he spends 10 minutes sitting on the floor just hanging out, but when class is over, he always tells me he had a blast

I honestly don’t care what activities or sports my son does or doesn’t want to pursue—I will always support him. He might not be a baseball player like his dad, and that is okay. But if he wants to, I will be at every game.

If he decides that he wants to play the violin, I will be there.

If he wants to be a downhill skier, I will be there.

If he wants to write a blog about his children like his mama does, I will be there reading and commenting.

If he wants to be a professional ballet dancer, I’m all in.

I am hoping that one day, no one will even bat an eye when I tell them my son takes dance class. Because I let him do what he loves, and I’m confident that’s exactly what I should be doing.