Amanda Lamb: Dance Mom preparing for retirement

So, I am officially getting close to the finish line. I am in my second to last year of dance with my daughter, who is a junior in high school. She’s been at it since she was three—competitively dancing since she was about eight.

My role has shifted dramatically over the years. In the beginning, I was in charge of everything—keeping her practices on the calendar, driving her to the dance school, preparing her costumes for competitions, packing the dance bag for events. I was a backstage mom, helping with hair, makeup and costume coordination. Now, I basically just pay for everything, show up, and make sure she has meals during the competition weekends.

I look around me, and I see the mothers with small children at these events—mothers just beginning their dance journeys. I am at once a little envious for the time they have ahead of them with their daughters, and at peace with the fact that life is all about seasons, and my next season is getting ready to launch. Stay tuned for details!

One role that hasn’t changed in all these years is that I am an enthusiastic and unabashedly proud spectator of my daughter on stage. Even now, I sometimes get tears in my eyes when I see her up there giving it her all—her energy, her passion, her joy. I look at her in awe and am amazed by how she transforms her 16-year-old self into an engaging performer that I can’t take my eyes off. This I will miss.

So, while I am planning for my retirement, I also plan to give the next year and a half my all as a dance mom. I will be there, front and center, with enthusiasm and pride as I watch this wonderful human being I helped create shine her little light on the world.

Amanda is the mom of two, a reporter for WRAL-TV and the author of several books including some on motherhood. Find her here on Mondays.