Every night, in the tough time between dinner time and bedtime, my sons begin the chorus of asking for something. For the longest time, the request was for dessert or a snack or literally anything that would delay the inevitable bedtime.
I wish I could say the constant demands of desserts and snacks had completely subsided, but that would be an outright lie.
Instead, they’ve been upstaged by a higher demand. The demand for a dance party.
What started as a way to distract them has turned into a fun, nightly routine. Even when we’re behind schedule and bedtime is already later than normal, they’ll beg for just one song.
And so, every night, we dance our hearts out to songs ranging from the Greatest Show to Immigrant Song to Shut Up and Dance with Me. Watching my boys let loose and show their full personalities for those songs is the highlight of my day.
My oldest likes to challenge us to dance-offs, and he has yet to lose one. My youngest will go from watching us to doing some hilarious dance move, with the most serious expression on his face.
As a parent, there are a few reasons I’ve fallen in love with our nightly dance party (besides the aforementioned distraction from demanding extra desserts):
♦The boys get their extra energy out. We spend 15 minutes dancing our hearts out. By the time we’re done, the boys don’t fight going to bed quite as much.
♦The pure joy on their faces. They each have their favorite songs to dance to. When their song comes on, their faces light up. It’s beautiful.
♦We end the night on a high note. It doesn’t matter what happened leading up to that moment. For the duration of our dance party, we’re laughing and having fun together as a family. It’s a great end cap to the day.
Do you have dance parties with your children? If you do, what are your favorite songs to dance to?
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Photo by Robert Collins on Unsplash
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