Imani and Joy tried out for the Nutcracker on Sunday. It was Imani’s second audition for a real ballet, and Joy’s first. I had to drop the girls off at the door and leave. Their auditions were an hour apart, so it was barely worth my while to go home. Luckily, Yanni had a staff meeting in between, so I wouldn’t fall asleep from lack of activity. hehe

Well, Joy’s audition went off without a hitch. She was ready to go when I dropped Imani off. But Imani’s audition ended up running about an hour and a half over. There were more girls than expected–over 100 in all, for about 85 parts.

Last year, I had wanted to talk Imani out of auditioning. I mean, what are the odds of getting in the ballet your very first year of ballet lessons? She didn’t know what any of the French terms were yet, for goodness sake. She is a very sensitive child, and I dreaded having to help her get over the disappointment of not getting in the ballet. But, she made it! My never try never fail mentality would have had Imani miss out on something she really wanted.

Joy was too young to be in the ballet last year, and she’s been counting the minutes until she could try out this year. We were there with bells on, is what I’m saying.

We were to hear whether they got a part by Wednesday or Thursday. The letters came today. They were both cast!

This year’s one niggling fear was that one would get in while another didn’t. I’m still taking it pretty hard that Joy made pre-team in gymnastics while Imani did not.

But we dodged that bullet. Joy is a mouse and Imani is a soldier. More on what all that means later. Now we’ll just bask in the glow of victory.