Let's Dance!

Four years ago, four mothers gathered around a small table at a local coffee shop and talked about the concerns they had for their teenagers attending school dances. We all felt that if we could properly equip our kids, we could feel good about sending them out into that environment.

Rather than cursing the darkness, we wanted to light a candle.

And that is exactly what has happened.

That first year, we hosted a series of dance lessons and a dance.

We hired instructors that came and taught about five lessons over a period of a few months, and at the end of the lessons, we had the dance.

We rented a local dance hall, decorated it, and everyone brought food to share. It was a blast!

A couple of weeks ago, we kicked off our annual dance lessons once again and everything is in full swing.

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Here's a run down of how it all works.

Months ahead of time, the host families plan the lessons and the big dance, getting everything on the calendar and booking the dance hall.

The lessons begin in January after school is back in session. We meet at the home of one of our host families, and start the night off by sharing a meal together. Each host family takes a turn providing the food.

It's very, very casual... but so nice.

It's a sweet time to visit with other parents, and with the kids and also a time for the instructors to visit with students.

After the meal, we head out to the barn.

This is our second year to hire the Aggie Wranglers to teach our dance lessons. They are a fun and lively group of college students from Texas A&M University. If their dancing does not totally knock your socks off, then you need to check your pulse. Take a look at what they can do here.

Our kids do not learn all of those crazy moves, but they do learn a few. And do they ever love it! In addition to basic dance etiquette, they learn to two-step, polka, waltz and jitterbug.