She kicked her butt.

"Irish dancers kick butt." It's not just a bumpersticker; it's the truth. The aim of most good Irish stepdancers is to literally kick their behinds while executing certain dance steps.

(Some Irish ceili and set dancers may kick rather high, and some dancers do both styles of Irish dancing, but for the most part, kicking ones backside is NOT a goal nor aim of most of us ceili / set dancers. Thankfully:) )

Last night, OHBoy was told that he needed to kick his (feet, heels, ?) up higher, at his butt, not down low, when he did a particular turn in his dance. I'm sure there's a fancy name for it.

The other week, I was watching the dance class that my daughter, M, assists in. One of her friends was wearing a long yellow t-shirt over her shorts. There was a greyish-black mark on the back of her shirt. Then I noticed, every time she danced certain steps, her hardshoes kicked her backside, and left a mark. Ha, proof to the teacher, this girl really was kicking her butt!

So, of course, M kicks her feet up behind her, and hits her backside. Except last night, somehow, she kicked herself right in the center, on her tailbone. In her hardshoes.

My boyfriend, E, called me as M and I were coming home. "How'd practice go?" "Oh, good, well, except that M kicked her tailbone." E, laughing, "I can see how that could happen." M looked over at me, trying to move herself up and out of the car, "OWW!"

M tells me that normally she'd just see how it goes, but "with Oireachtas 3 weeks away....." I didn't correct her, that the SRO is just over 2 weeks away now. Her face showed enough worry. She can walk, but she's still in pain this morning. She'll see the orthopaedic (sp) doctor tomorrow, the same wonderful one she was referred to when she kicked her own ankle, and bruised her ankle bone. I didn't even know one could bruise a bone. The doctor estimated 3 months to heal, yeah, just in time for the Oireachtas, and potentially bruising a tail bone. Ha.