This is always difficult for people to believe that know me now, but I was the shyest kid ever. Really. If you met me when I was 5 you would be shocked that I don't suffer from agoraphobia at this stage in my life. When people came over to our house, I hid behind the couch for hours. I would love to say I was a toddler, but this was well into elementary school. I was terrified to get up and sharpen my pencil in elementary school. What if everyone looked at me? Asking to go to the restroom was a traumatic experience. I remember when I was in the 6th grade I was forced to try out for chorus. Trust me, the music teacher made Simon Cowell seem like a cupcake. Each person had to stand up and sing, "Silver Bells" and wait for the assessment. I thought I was going to pass out, but somehow I managed to survive that and many other humiliating experiences...many self inflicted:) But I digress..
I watch my 8 year old son (who is incredibly shy as well) and think that he is Mr. outgoing compared to me at that age. But even though I was painfully shy, I was always a performer. I used to stand in front of the vacuum cleaner wearing a long printed dress and sing something from Tony Orlando and Dawn. "Knock 3 Times on the Ceiling" anyone? Or that song by the Sylvers, "Hotline." I loved it. I thought variety shows were the best and I loved imitating the characters on the "Carol Burnett Show." Oh and "Grease"- I desperately wanted to be Olivia Newton John. She seemed so...confident and beautiful! And she was Australian which was just fabulous! It didn't help that I stuttered as well. Dr. Phil would have had a field day with me at age 5, or I could have at least been a case study for one of those shows on A&E.
As I got older and entered those painfully awkward teenage years... who am I kidding? I was pretty awkward until I was about 28 and then I just decided it was okay to be goofy! Anyway, as a teenager I wanted to be a Solid Gold Dancer. They just seemed so glamorous and talented. Most importantly, they got to wear high heels which was the ultimate in my opinion. I wasn't really a fan of gold lame' but I was willing to make that sacrifice if I could dance to a Duran Duran song and shove Marilyn McCoo off the stage. But of course the show got canceled so that dream was dashed. So now that I am in my very late thirties, I still wanna be a "star", so how does one achieve that? No, it's not those karaoke contests I did well in. All I learned from that is that your singing is better to an audience who has been pounding jaigermeister shots for the better part of the evening. I can still dance, but I am way to old to be a back up dancer for Lady Gaga and not as flexible as I used to be so Cirque Du Soleil is out of the question as well. Where do I channel this energy?
The Kinect Dance Central on the Xbox 360 is my place to shine. Finally, a chance to score a 99 and tell my 6 year old daughter that mommy rules!Who knew that the roger rabbit and running man had a place in my life again? Evacuate the dance floor!!!!!!!! Clearly this was invented for goofy moms to bond with their kids. Why don't they have a show called "Dancing with the Moms?" I'm ready....
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