Dante reserved his ninth circle for traitors, frozen for eternity. Jeff reserves it for competition dads who risk a bathroom break and miss their daughter's 90-second routine.
In this episode, Jeff catalogs the special purgatory of the competition dance dad — the 5:30 a.m. wake-ups, the backstage snack runs, the UTI he'd rather get than miss a lyrical solo — until his daughters take the stage and, for four minutes, all of it makes sense.
This is the thirteenth episode of Diaries of a Dance Dad, an audio memoir series in Jeff's own words. It spans the full arc of parenthood: the inhale of birth and early chaos, the grind of no sleep and travel with kids, the gut-punches of failure, and the slow exhale of letting go.
Order Diaries of a Dance Dad audiobook & hear the tales that bookend my paternal journey from cradle to empty nestdom at onecommune.com/dancedad.
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