It happened again, banned from the dance class. No more 'Hip Hop' for us. It’s a well rehearsed scenario, but I’m a bit out of practice. Over the years we’ve had lots of practice, a whole slew of places where we found we were no longer welcome:- Kindermusik, Music Together, the YMCA, Challenger School, soccer, multi-sports, Stratford school, Jazzercize, Summer Day camps and many, many restaurants.

I should be used to it, but it’s been a while.

When I say that we were’ thrown out’, that of course is very far from the truth, this is America afterall. The ban is couched in polite language:- not a good match / a smaller class / when they’re more mature / happier elsewhere / other students need consideration / many apologies. I feel quite sorry for them really, the spokesperson, as it’s not a task I would relish myself. As a business or charitable institution, good will can only take you so far.

It looks like a list of failures, especially in financial terms. In other ways it represents a series of tentative first steps. We were rarely eliminated on the first attempt. Sometimes we made several classes over a series of weeks. Sometimes we made it half way, or sometimes even further. A couple of times we completed a semester but the opportunity to renew was ill advised.

Now if you’ll excuse me I now have a huge stack of brochures to study and decide whom to honour with our presence and dollars this summer.

"Cheers dears"