My Guilty Pleasure;)

Okay, so I have a confession to make, I have a little guilty pleasure....it's "Dance Moms"! We all love that show, (even the boys secretly love it.) It is the only show we watch every week. I count the days till Tuesday haha:)

My favorite thing about the show is watching them dance. Those girls are such amazing dancers, I can't look away once a song starts. And they are not just dancers, they are performers! So many emotions come out through their faces and movements, it is beautiful to watch. 

But besides the entertainment factor this show can also teach us a few things. Like the importance of competition. Each girl is not only competing against other dance companies each week they are also competing with each other. Doing that forces them to work harder and strive to be the best. Now, that doesn't always work. In this case because a lot of the time no matter how hard some of them work (everyone except Maddie that is) they're hard pressed to hear Abby give a compliment. 

Which brings me to another lesson learned...putting up with Abby. I'm sure everyone has come across an Abby Lee Miller in their lives (although I don't know how many can actually match her caliber of crazy ---haha) and her dancers are pretty good examples of how to deal with people like her. Most importantly they don't take everything she says to heart, while still listening to her criticisms. It's a good skill to be able to apply the corrections needed without letting the negatives crush you. If Abby's girls took her words too personally they would all dig themselves a hole and live in it, thinking they suck....except Maddie, of course. (For those of you who don't watch the show, Maddie is Abby's all-time favorite. She can do no wrong.) 

So along with all of the pros there are also cons to the show. Like the fighting between Abby and all of the moms. I know a lot of it must be put on or exaggerated for ratings but it gets excessive; it is hard to tell when enough is enough. It's good because all of these girls are earning money and opportunities and I'm sure because of the show they are better dancers than they would've been without it. But they are also exposed to all kinds of fighting and screaming amongst their mothers and they get screamed at themselves, too. It makes it that much worse when they are giving so much to this person that almost never acknowledges it, and when the person yelling at them is someone that they have grown up with and been taught so much by, that she is like their second mother. 

When is it time to leave? To stop putting up with all of it? I don't know. I can't truly judge by what we are shown on tv, who knows what really happens. But I do know from my own experience that it is hard when you love something so much that you are willing to do anything and put up with anything to get it. But you can't compromise yourself. You can't let anything get in the way of the person you are meant to be. Not the people you are with, the way they are treating you, or the things that you want to do.  I don't think any of them are at that point yet, but there is a good chance it will come. 

Meanwhile, I just can't wait for next week's episode! =D