Making do.
Bossy’s daughter has tap shoes, but the issue remains: where can she practice? The floors in Bossy’s house are wood and would no doubt provide the perfect surface, but sister mercy Bossy redid the floors herself, first sanding then whitewashing then polyurethaning until she lost the six years she would have spent playing Mah Jung at the Senior Center.
So that’s out.
Bossy cheerfully suggested that Bossy’s daughter should just go outside and practice on the pavement, until Bossy’s daughter explained that concrete quickly ruins tap shoes and besides, there was the issue of the snow-covered sidewalks and arctic temperature.
So that’s out.
Luckily last year Bossy’s husband made Bossy’s daughter this tap board out of plywood. It’s backed with cheap indoor/outdoor carpeting which helps it stay in place and won’t scratch any surface underneath.
It’s not big, and so Bossy’s daughter is limited in her moves, but it’s light enough for her to carry around herself, which is a big deal because Bossy doesn’t leave her position on the sofa for just any old thing.
Bossy’s husband is a regular MacGyver. And every girl needs a portable tap board. That is awesome.
Ingenious! Bossy’s husband takes care of his little Sunshine and his beloved spouse ! He is a great guy..
I love it! Can Bossy’s husband make me something so I don’t have to hear my son practicing his drums??
My daughter has one of those! It doesn’t stop her from practicing tap, minus the tap shoes, everywhere else including store aisles.
What a beautiful photo.
I lurve me some tap dancing!! I used to shuffle ball change every where I went. Maybe thats why I walk so funny now.
What does it say about your family dynamic that your daughter’s tap board is 30% smaller than the dog’s bedding? 😉
I never gave my daughter anyplace to practice – she would practice everywhere. The most annoying was in checkout lines. (Psst – Lil’ Bossy Gal – You don’t need to use the shoes to practice.)
Bossy, this is my favorite blog in (as my kids would say) “the history of history.” 🙂
So happy I stumbled upon you!
(And by “stumbled,” I mean “clicked on a link,” and not “the way Mommy walks after she’s had too much boxed wine and Robitussin”).
I’m still waiting for my father to install the ballet barre in the basement that he promised me when I was 12.
Not that I’m holding a grudge, or anything.
Isn’t it about time for your daughter to go away to the Fred Astaire boarding school & tap dancing academy?
I can remember seeing John Hartford years ago and he always had a piece of plywood that he’d dance on or keep beat while he was playing his banjo or fiddle.
I can not wait to see Bossy’s daughter on Broadway.
My dad did the same for me when I was 15!!! My shoes were getting ruined in our little courtyard of our wee condo. And y’all know tap shoes are PRICEY. My friend Tyler and I decorated the plywood with musical lyrics & the stars and moon from Crazy for You!…now he’s on broadway in the Little Mermaid. I like to think the plywood had something to do with it.
I had one of those too!!!! But without the carpet on the back. And guess what — I could have saved my Dad the trouble and scratched the hell out their floor directly! And I had a ballet bar too. Later on I got 1/2 a dance degree to go with them.
BTW do you know what half a Bachelor of Fine Arts is?
A Bachelor of F#&% All, of course
I use to practice on the hearth, waaaay back in the early years of the coastal nest, then I started practicing on the porch (cement) and quickly had an audience of 5 small neighborhood children. I was such a star back then…
Hmmmmn. I’m not sure what impresses me more: Bossy’s husband’s ingenious tap-dancing invention…or the fact that Bossy resurfaced her wood floors herself.
Bossy’s daughter tap dances! Now I love her even more.
Mine didn’t love Tap. She tolerated it in order to be in the top level at dance class.
You can’t practice Lyrical on a plywood board. You have to move the furniture to the walls.
Wow, this took me back 35 years to something I’d totally forgotten–my tap-dancing daughter’s portable tap board. By the time she needed a PTB I had divorced my husband who could make anything out of anything (other than a marriage). So now I must dig deep into the old, rusted, battered file cabinet in my brain to remember how and where we found a PTB. Maybe she’ll remember, altho at 47, her file cabinet may be getting a little rusted and battered, too. And I identify with the lady whose daughter tapped in checkout lines as my daughter not only did that, but passed it on to her tap-dancing daughter. Thankfully, they’ve both outgrown that. Thanx for the memories!
My niece does Irish dance and her da (my brother) made her one of these to practice hard shoe. He put it in the basement; originally it was upstairs but then they became concerned for the plaster on the ceiling.