My mom did Irish dancing when she was a girl and she always wanted my sister and me to take dance lessons. She started us off in ballet and we looked really cute in those tutus but there was never any danger we were going to wear out any shoes. After my sister had to be a rabbit in the annual recital, she was so humiliated she refused to go back. She said she only wanted to wear pretty dresses. I was supposed to be a sunflower in the recital but fortunately I got tonsillitis and missed it!

Then sometime when I was in 3rd grade we were watching PBS and they showed Riverdance. My mother was so excited she made us all watch twice, even my brothers. My sister and I liked it, my brothers didn't. Then we saw Lord of the Dance, and we really, really liked that. By some miracle my mom found an Irish dancing school, but it wasn't nearby. But about twice a month we went and she worked with us at home when we couldn't go.

Irish dancing is.... different. There's a lot of hopping and jumping around on your toes. If you stick with it long enough you get to wear beautiful costumes. You have to reach a certain level in competition to wear one. In Scottish dancing you get to wear one as soon as you start competing, but we just wore skirts and blouses. It took me 3 years to earn a dress. It was black velvet with mostly yellow Celtic birds on it and it had a really big crocheted lace collar. I loved it. It beat being a sunflower any day.

I never got up to championship level but my little sister did. She's very good and has won alot of trophies and crystal and very nice awards. Oh did I say you don't win money in Irish dancing? You don't. I wonder if you get money for being a dancing sunflower? Hmmm...