Three Kids and a Dog: Hailey's First Daddy Daughter Dance

Lately, Hailey has really been wanting to do every activity that her big brother and sister do so when I saw the park district was putting on a daddy daughter dance, I thought it would be perfect for her and Tom. She does love her daddy and always wants to go with him whether he's coaching Peyton's team or taking her to Indian Princess. She wants her time too and doesn't want to be left out just because she's younger.

So I broach the dance to Hailey (Peyton's dance is associated with school so Hailey can't attend that one even if she wanted to). She's really excited at first but then she thinks twice about it when I inform her that she has to wear a dress. After a moment, she decides she'll go if she can wear her dinosaur dress. Well, that's not exactly what I had in mind but somehow I convince her that all the girls will be dressed up and I have two dresses that she can pick from so she's happy with having a choice. She picks a sparkly silver number that's a hand-me down from Peyton. Shoes are a bit of a problem as her and Peyton's shoe sizes don't really line up for dress shoes and she's just outgrown the pair that I stuffed her feet in for Easter. Thinking quickly, I pull out her black high top kitty sneakers which look adorable with her dress. And, it turns out those were the right choice as she did a lot of dancing according to Tom.

They danced, ate, made a fairy tale hat, had fun in the photo booth and met new friends. In fact, Hailey befriended a kindergarten girl which was a bit surprising because if you know Hailey she very rarely gravitates toward girls. She prefers friends who are boys but slowly she's been showing more interest in having friends who are girls. Apparently, this girl and her just hit it off and hung out the rest of the night happily forcing Tom and her dad into a new friendship too.

It was the first of many new things that Hailey is finally old enough to do - she's 4 1/2 now and exhibiting her temper, her preferences and her opinions more. And, she's also demanding the attention and activities that the other two get too. Oh adding a third with activities not during the day to the mix is a whole new ball game of craziness with schedules but bring it on (as long as I have good car pools)!