Staying Organized as a Dance Mom

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Are you new to the dance mom world?  Or are you an experienced dance mom just needing to try and get things organized.  Either way I think I can help you get things organized.

I have 4 girls in competitive dance and have been a dance mom for 10 years.  It all started after my oldest daughters first year of ballet, she said oh I love this next year I want to try more.  Then the studio owner said well if she wants to do a few more you might as well join our competitive team.  And that was it we have never looked back.

Create A Calendar

Between my 4 girls we are at the dance studio 6 days a week.  It is a lot!  But our studio is on the smaller side so scheduling can be a challenge.  After all these years what I have found works best is making sure everything is on the calendar.  If I am being entirely honest I think that I have at least 4 calendars on the go at all times, all with close to the same information in it.

Digital calendars are super handy to make updates in and you can invite the whole family so that everyone knows what is going on.  We have a large calendar on the wall in the kitchen that we keep fully up to date too.  I also really like pen and paper in a nice planner.  I like these so much I actually create one and you can get it here Amazon.com: School Year Success Planner for Moms: Corner, The Cozy Mom: Books.

If you have multiple kids color coding is the best way to go.  One of my kids dances 6 days a week and one dances only 2 so being able to see this is really helpful.  If your kids are old enough to read they will like being able to see which dances they have each day.  If you prefer the digital calendars this is a really popular one https://amzn.to/46MZden.

Ask Questions

The beginning of the season is always pretty exciting and overwhelming.  Ask about other important dates that you need to be aware of.  A lot of times some of the extra dates we have are:

• Pre-dress rehearsal practice
• Costume try on
• Picture Day
• Extra performances (especially around the holidays)
• Last minute classes before competitions begin
• Are there classes in between the competitions
• Year end recital- which dances will you do

Practice Area

No matter how many days a week your dancer is dancing they will still need to practice at home.  Ensuring that they are spending some time practicing really pays off.  You can really see the dancers that put in the extra effort at home.

If you have space in the basement that is a great area.  You want there to be enough space that they are able to stretch out and work on some of their dances.  Practicing their jumps at home is really good to help with height and strength in jumps.

If you child is into acro you will want to make sure that you have mats for safety of their tumbling, these are great folding mats https://amzn.to/4nkH1yOand a tumble track is a really great idea as well we have a few and my kids use it all the time https://amzn.to/4pG048j.

Planning

As our kids got older the more and more days we were spending at the studio.  Sometimes my kids were leaving for dance right after school and not getting home until it was time to get ready for bed.  We quickly got into the habit of eating out but that was not healthy and was too expensive.  We had to be very intentional about making a menu that worked for dance nights so the kids could eat quickly right when they got home for school or more often than not ate in the van on the way to dance.

Because we spend so much time eating in the car having the right supplies is essential.  A large cooler bag basically stays in the van https://amzn.to/4mnx0PT.  This is great to make sure your kids favorite snacks are always packed in the bag.  Because every night after dance as soon as they get into the car they are going to say they are hungry so be prepared!

Our favorite containers for eating dinner in the car are these two https://amzn.to/46J9x7b, https://amzn.to/46NJA6n.

If your kids are dancing right after school make sure you are having your kids have their dance outfits ready to go in the morning so they can change right when they get home.  Also be sure to have any shoes that they will need in their shoe bag so it can be grabbed right away.  This bag is a cute and fits all the shoes https://amzn.to/4pyuBVp.

I hope your dance season is full of excitement and so much fun.  For more tips on dance mom life be sure to check out other posts at Dance Mom Blog Archives – Together We Can Travel.