My living room is not big enough. It used to be plenty big enough. It�s big enough for sitting around watching television. It�s big enough for extensive beanie baby camps, schools, and even a lake. What it�s not big enough for is for me to do dance exercise tapes now that Day-Hay is home.

Don�t get me wrong. I really enjoy exercising with Day-Hay. It�s an added incentive to have someone else say, �What tape are we doing today?� Having someone who is so good at dance take the tape I�ve gotten out of the library most recently and help me figure out some of the more difficult steps is a great relief. I can actually do all of the tape instead of faking it until I figure out how to coordinate both the legs and the arms.

Yet, there is a space problem, especially on the tape with the big kicks. I have some idea how powerful my young dancer�s legs are. I have enough respect for her power that I don�t want to be anywhere near her sudden arabesque or grand battement. I certainly don�t want any of my body parts anywhere nearby when she lets loose her powerful legs.

If we each do the tape exactly right, we can make it work. She usually does the tape predictably but I am not sure which is my left leg and which is my right. If the woman on the tape asks for a kick on the left, Day-Hay usually will kick on the left. I could go either way. The danger of that situation is obvious. I can�t be sure I�ll be out of the way and Day-Hay can�t assume, as she does with her dance class, that I will be where I am supposed to be. It�s frustrating but if I haven�t learned to distinguish left from right consistently at my age, I doubt I ever will.

If Day-Hay doesn�t need changing and I don�t think I can change me, that leaves the living room. Since I have no intention to move, it will just have to grow. Is there any such thing as living room Wheaties?

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