Our Hopeful Home: My Chicago Irish Dancers

Chickadees Number 1 and 2

{NOTE: Pay no attention to the annoying date in the bottom right hand corner of the picture ~ it's wrong. My old camera was wonky that way! And I obviously don't know how to photoshop it out, sorry:)}

Every year, when St. Patrick's Day rolls around, my oldest daughter {Chickadee Number 1} gets busy with her Irish dance performances. You see, she's been dancing since she was seven and a half years old. She and her little sister, Chickadee Number 2, started dancing in 2007. It's been six years.

Six years of fun.

And hard work.

And dedication.

And disappointment.

And elation.

And camaraderie.

Her little sister dropped out along the way, as children often do. Yet Number 1 has stayed with it out of pure love. Love of the dance.

And my, how she's grown.

Being mostly Irish, it's nice to see one of my children embrace a Celtic tradition. But it's a real job. And anyone who has ever been a part of the Irish dance world will tell you so. There are hard shoes and soft shoes and dresses and wigs and make-up and poodle socks and sock glue {yes, I said sock glue} and feiseanna {competitions} and lessons and the list goes on and on. Oh, and there's money. Yes, there's that. The money we parents spend to support our children's passion.

But she doesn't really ask for much, this one. So we've been an Irish dance family for what seems like forever now. And at this time of year, especially, we get to be proud of our daughter and all of her dance schoolmates who work so hard all year long. Now is their time to shine.

{Chickadee is 5th from left}

Foy School of Traditional Irish Dance

Chicago, IL

Des Moines, IA

This one's my absolute favorite.

{The preceding 4 photos courtesy of my friend, Nancy.}

So for the next few days the celebrations and special holiday performances will continue. And us lucky ones, well, we'll be swept along for the ride with our very special daughters.

And you know what they say:

You don't have to be Irish to be Irish on St. Patrick's Day. So if you see some Irish dancers this St. Patrick's Day, well, just sit back, clap your hands, stomp your feet and enjoy the ride. It only happens once a year.

In honor of the special day I created another one of my Irish dance charm bracelets.