Casey had her 3rd dance recital on Sunday. I can't believe she has been my little dancing princess for 3 years now. I can't believe she is turning 9 this April either! The time has gone way too fast. Last year the dance recital was kind of a disaster. Casey was not doing well and then when we put her in a loud crowded room she had a huge meltdown. She had an audience full of people to cheer her on and she basically rolled across the stage then straight back to the car and home. She missed trophies, she didn't see any of her guest, it was just a mess.
This year we planned for the meltdown. We set up a little spot in a quiet hallway just for her. She was able to relax and have limited stimulus before getting in costume and going on stage. We then slowly got her ready and loaded into her chair just in time to take the stage with her group. She did great. After her performance we kept her in her dress but went back to her quiet spot for a little break. As the show was wrapping up (we could hear the music from our spot) we got her backstage so she could go back out with the group to get her trophy. Everyone goes out at the end together. It gets loud and a little hectic so she started to get worked up while on stage to get her trophy. As soon as she came back off we did all we could, but the meltdown was underway. She made it to the end though, so it was MUCH better than last year.
A cold front came through while we were there so it was really cold when we left. We changed Casey out of her dress and into comfortable clothes then ran to the car. By the time we got her home she was in full meltdown mode. Her heart rate was really high and she was not breathing well. We got her some oxygen and medicine and tried to get her to calm down on the couch while we got her bed ready.
My mom, her husband, my grandpa, my sister and her friend had come back to the house with us to celebrate my mom's birthday while they were in town. Casey wasn't feeling much like celebrating so we got her to bed as quick as we could. Once she settled into bed she started to look a lot better. The past few days she has been sleeping a lot and recovering from her big day. It's a hard balance. She loves dance and we want to find ways for her to do as many fun things as we can. Each thing is always so hard on her though. There is always a price to pay and finding the balance of when to do the extra stuff or when to skip it is really hard. I talk to a lot of other moms with kids like Casey and they have the same balance issues. Unfortunately there is not an easy/obvious answer. We have to just trust our gut instincts and plan on recovery times after special events. We try to plan ahead with quiet areas and things like this as much as we can too and that helps. It's just so hard to know when to be the over protective mom and when to just go for it.
Hopefully with a few more days recovering she will be feeling much better. Each day she looks a little better than the day before, so we are going in the right direction. Here are some pictures from the show. I'll do another post in the next few days with medical updates and any other stuff I left out of this post.
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| Casey's Performance |
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| Trophy Time |
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| Casey's Group on Stage |
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| Casey Before the Show |
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| The Hair/Tiara |
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| My 2 Favorite People |
