Dance the Day Away

Frustrations are going to mount, no matter who you are and
what you do. From the daily grind
at the office, to a flat tire, to an overdue bill— they all seem to gang up
on you and work their best to ruin your day.

Being a dad of two little girls, I know that my emotions, no
matter how hard I try and hide them at times, leak out, and are absorbed by
those two carefree little ones.

The last thing you or I want to do is pass on
those annoyances to them and bring them down too.

So, rather than yell, curse,
slam a door, fume at the top of your lungs, etc…, grab your kids and Dance!
Dance! Dance!

That’s right, I said it. I’ll throw my masculinity out there
and admit it….dancing around with my girls is silly, immature, goofy and quite
possibly the most fun and biggest highlight of each stress-filled day.

Nearly every night, following dinner, we prepare for “Dance
Party” at our house. The girls and I trek down the stairs to the TV room,
crank on some beat-filled tunes, and go nuts. Because… guess what? You might be
the silliest, most uncoordinated guy out there, but your kids will love it.

They don’t judge you on your rhythm. They don’t judge you on
your style. The nerdier you are, the better! And get this…..they will copy you!
Your moves just became cooler than Elmo on Ice! They will probably think you
are the funniest and most talented dad in history, even though you have
probably been laughed off of wedding reception floors for years now.

And News Flash— The Charlie Brown? The Running Man? The
Cabbage Patch….all HUGE hits with the kids. They laugh, they imitate, heck, my
girls even have “Dance Faces,” which consist of closing their eyes,
and bobbing their heads nicely to the beat.

And don’t kid yourself— You HAVE the time. You aren’t that
busy…. And if you are, realign some priorities. Put off watching Wheel of
Fortune…Put off conquering that final level on that new video game. Get that
report for work done later or first thing in the morning. Everyone has to have
fun, sometime…. And the more days you let things build up on you, the more
stressful you will get….and like it or not, you pass that on to your kids. Show
them THEY are your priority. And join in the fun.

The point is this: Silliness is a remedy for Stress. And why
not be silly with the silliest of all—your children.

Start a conga line and march around the couch.

Grab their
hands and pirouette them onto their Pampers…..all the more laughs when you fall
down.

Plus, dancing is great exercise. I am not talking about a
Justin Timberlake, 2 hour HBO special type marathon—just 15-30 minutes of
dancing will get your heart pumping and soon enough, through all the laughs,
tumbles, and stumbles, your Boss yelling at you or your Credit Card bill won’t
seem to phase you.

The most important things don’t turn out to be those clients
you couldn’t make a sale to, or that fender bender you got into. It is those
smiling, sweating, little dance fever machines staring up at you — chests
heaving and brows perspiring. So, tonight, go home and bust out the moves that
you have had in the closet for so long.

And just a tip— twirling a pint size princess may sound
like fun, and it is—just make sure she hasn’t had a full bowl of ice cream….Or
else you might spend the night cleaning off your dancing shoes!

— Ryan Zimmerman