The Most Beautiful Part of Me

We often say our kids are the best parts of us. That's certainly true of me and then some. Madison Symone is not only the best part of me; she takes my shortcomings and makes them special. The running joke in our house between my wife and I is that Madison looks like me and acts like her. For those who've seen me, you know I'm a funny-looking guy. I'm a nice guy, but funny-looking all the same. I've got a big head and small ears. I have these short, thick fingers tailor-made for weightlifting. And who could forget - I'm pigeon-toed and have very wide feet. Madison has those exact features. She's my child through and through. Nobody needs to call Maury Povich for this one. I'm Solomon Alexander and I am the father.

Even with her father's one-of-a-kind features, people think Madison is gorgeous. She's also able to do things on those feet no one in our family has ever been able to do. Madison is a dancer. I know I go on and on about sports and sportsmanship on this blog, but my daughter doesn't play a traditional sport. Well, there are two things at play here. One, Madison dances five days a week on average and takes courses in hip-hop, tumbling, cheer/pom, jazz, tap, ballet, and a few others that my wife knows better than me. So, she gets more exercise than any of the rest of us and she's in the best shape in the house by far. The other and more important reason is Madison loves to dance. She's been dancing since she could stand and wiggling before that. If the music has a discernible beat, my baby can go.

At a year old she would dance in the aisle at church during every song. For anyone who has ever been to an African-American church (regardless of denomination), you know that services last three hours or more and half of that is singing. This kid would not stop dancing. It really was a no-brainer for us. We put her in dance classes as soon as someone would take her. Madison is now eight and has been dancing at Dance Plus here in St. Louis since 2007. Whether it's athletics, academics, the arts, or a combination of all three, all of our kids have gifts. Our job as parents is to make sure our kids develop those gifts with the best coaches and teachers we can find. Jamell Jacobs, owner of Dance Plus, is such a teacher.

Jamell teaches kids of all shapes and sizes and turns them into dancers. She and her staff enhance the kids' ability and self-confidence. When they're on stage, you can't help but smile as you see a child's very best shine through. I've trusted my only child to Jamell and she has not let me down. She won't let you down either. Many summer camps will be winding down by the end of the month. Some of us have that two-week lull between the end of camp and the start of school.

For anyone interested in dance, Dance Plus is hosting a two-week dance camp that runs August 1-12. More information can be found by clicking on the following link for Dance Plus. Madison performed a solo dance number for her school's talent show in April. It was choreographed by Dance Plus instructor Danielle Wallace. Watch the video of her performance below (email subscribers click here). You'll also notice in the background the name of the school. Incidentally, that's the location for this year's Coach It Right! Soccer Clinic. If you haven't registered, please do so by clicking on the appropriate icon in the right sidebar of the blog homepage. Until next time...

Be a Good Sport!

-Sol