Do the dance!

All three of our kids' personalities can be summed up by their responses to the following little ditty.

Do the dance!
Do the Cornbread* dance!
Do the dance!
Do the Cornbread dance!
One, two, three, get loose!

(At which point I break into some wicked beat-box action.)

(Seriously. It's wicked.)

When this song starts, Henry's head cocks so far to the side in embarrassment his flushed cheek marries his shoulder. His grin stretches from ear-to-ear. He tries desperately not to laugh.

Henry: Daaaad.

Most importantly, he does not dance. It's not that he doesn't dance (the boy can mooooove), he just never wants to be the centre of attention. He doesn't want to be The Show.

Do the dance!
Do the Beancorn dance!
One, two, three, get loose!

Jane closes her eyes (or crosses them in a silly way) and dances. Her arms flail. Her legs jerk. She looks like a bad reaction to heavy medication, and she doesn't care. Completely unselfconscious, she is 100% in it for the fun.

Do the dance!
Do the Shortstop dance!
One, two, three, get loose!

Alice has already been dancing since the first note of Henry's song. The girl never met a beat she didn't like. Standing, she holds herself steady with wide-spread arms that ride the waves of beats like a champion surfer. Sitting, she rocks back and forth to the beat. Her eyes are always on you, making sure you know it: she's The Show.

My kids. Dang.

*I nicknamed Henry "Cornbread" when he was about 3-days old. Jane, who would prefer to be "Just Jane", finally accepts "Beancorn" as an alternative. Alice is "Shortstop." Substitute the appropriate name when you sing it for each kid.