Count with me...5...6...7...8!

I've never been a morning person, try as I might I still struggle with early mornings and I get worse with getting up early as the week goes along, not terrible but I'm not so gung-ho on Thursday as I am on Monday or Tuesday. BUT I no longer sleep in on the weekends. It wacks out my schedule. So early morning dance practice is not a favorite but we do get a lot done. And ya' gotta do what you've gotta do!

People are either morning people or not. Some people love mornings and get more done before the sun comes up than other people get done all day. I must admit I do get a lot done when I have to get up in the mornings. But being organized the night before is the secret to success for anyone's morning. I like to have everything ready the night before so if there are any glitches I can deal with them and keep moving rather than causing havoc and slowing me down.

You can tell who the morning people are when it comes to adults and kids. Some of my kids show up to early practices all bright eyed and bushy tailed, smiling and ready to roll. Others roll into practice grumpy and looking like they just got out of bed, which they probably did. And then there are those who have that grumpy look no matter what time of the day their day starts.

With dance you use counting, usually either with an 8 or 12 count. And I've noticed that at morning practices counting seems to be a struggle quite often. If you are suppose to go on the 6-count, go on the 6-count. Not the 5-1/2 count or the 7 count-the blessed SIX count!! After having a great practice yesterday after school my girls struggled with the simple task of counting and going on their count over and over and over again this morning. Not sure what the reason is, but counting to 8 and going on YOUR count was all over the place today and a struggle!

I used to use the "count to three" method with my own kids when they were little. They knew when I started counting they'd better be done doing whatever it was they were doing by the time I reached the number three. But alas my youngest son was sometimes a bit of a pill and so when I'd start to count to three he would often finish. After I would say 1...he would quickly add 2....3!!! It was funny but also frustrating! I don't honestly think he knew what he was doing other than counting with me!! Learning numbers and letter is important in early development! I'm wondering if he was at that time thinking his mom wasn't too smart since she could only count to three most days!!

I don't like to get in people's faces as far as when they are screwing up. But with this group of dancers, this year rather than make a general correction, I now call the girl out on her mess up. It's how I have to deal with this group with the circumstances we've had. I'm not longer being Mr. Nice-guy-too bad that's the way it goes. I'm sure to a couple of girls it feels like I am always on their case. But we are only as strong as our weakest dancer. Learn to count, listen and pay attention. So my solution to fix our counting problems, now that we are two weeks away from state, is EVERYBODY counts with me! All together now!! It usually does the trick and gets things into their brains and muscle memory! Counting to 8 with Lynn may be a good title for this method!

We are always counting, and as a non-math person I deal with math all the time. YUCK! Actually I'm a math hater, I dislike math with a passion but we use simple math daily from how many days until the weekend or next break to how to stage a dance and count it with the choreography to figuring out totals and such. It's just part of life.

So I guess my whole play on numbers is how important it is do your part are in life, from dancing to counting on people and working together. Know your counts, do your part and come in on YOUR count for pete's sake!

Positive thought of the day: Work together not against one another! : )