School Drop-Offs, Coppélia, and Other Final Acts for Retiring Ballerina Megan Fairchild
“I have an immense amount of peace about this whole thing.”
Forget 9-to-5. Mothering knows no schedule—often it feels more like 5-to-9 and everything in between. In this series, we look at the hectic, messy, sometimes beautiful, often frustrating enterprise of being a mother—and maintaining a life of your own. Consider it a “day in the life” for the forgotten hours.
Today, we’re following Megan Fairchild at a particularly poignant moment: she is in the final days of her nearly 25-year career with New York City Ballet. Long celebrated for her crystalline technique and steadfast presence in the Balanchine repertory, Fairchild is preparing to take her final bow in Coppélia before retiring from the stage and relocating with her husband and three daughters to Bordeaux, France.
But offstage, Fairchild’s days look less like a prima ballerina’s and more like that of any mother juggling school drop-offs, mismatched socks, lunchbox demands, and physical exhaustion. “My kids are the best part of my life,” she writes. “Nothing tops my time with them.”
Across these images and diary entries, Fairchild reflects on pointe shoes, Pilates, French lessons, cold plunges, and the realities of being what she calls “a performing working mom”—all while savoring the final stretch of a career she says she’s ready, and even excited, to leave behind.
I wake up at 6:30 a.m., usually without an alarm, to sneak in a peaceful cup of coffee before the chaos of kids. I prop a heating pad upright in my bed and check in on the world on my phone while I wait for the coffee to kick in. From 7 to 7:45 a.m., we kind of race to get ready for school. I make breakfast for the girls and, while they’re eating, pack their lunches. I have one twin with these ridiculous lunch requests that I accommodate because it makes her so happy. The other two take bento boxes with sandwiches and little bites, while she insists on a hot lunch in a thermos, just like her friend from school.
For breakfast we have brioche, eggs, and fruit. Harlow also requests a bowl of Froot Loops every day. I tried to get healthier versions, and no one would touch them—so again, I give in. She always drinks the milk after, so I figure it’s a wash. We are moving to France this summer and I’ve tried to prepare her for the lack of Froot Loops there, ha!
I never thought I would have three kids, but when you have twins, you just go with it, and as soon as they all arrived, I was just so happy. My kids are the best part of my life, and that is saying something, as I have a lot of amazing things I get to experience. Still, nothing tops my time with them and I cherish the silly things they say in the morning. Sometimes they call me Megan for a laugh, and it never gets old.
I’ve tried to put all my girls in ballet but it hasn’t really been of much interest. My oldest, Tullie, has loved acro and jazz this year, and this is the first year we have made it through the whole school year with an activity. She would always start something and then say after three months, “I’m done! I know it all already.” And I’m not one to force anything on them. Showing off her backbends is her favorite party trick. We are looking forward to her first recital for her jazz class next month!
All three just wander in different directions each morning and our job is to keep tabs on whether they did everything they needed to before we leave. Harlow still needs to brush her teeth, Gemma doesn’t like her socks, Tullie can’t find her agenda…. I feel completely split in three and my mind is somehow trying to solve all three requests at the same time.
I am the classic ragged mom at drop-off—usually in my PJs with my hair unbrushed. I’m very hell-bent on getting to school on time and we have a long commute. If we aren’t out the door by 7:45, I have to experience the shame of ringing the bell and signing them in tardy. We’ve probably only been late twice this year.
We have a 25-minute drive to school because we wanted a bilingual education for them, as my husband is French. It’s a pretty long drive, especially considering that many mornings I do it after coming home late from a show the night before. It’s not just the lack of sleep but the physical exhaustion I experience, but I don’t get to give in to.
Still, making the effort to give them a bilingual education is one of the best choices we’ve made as parents. It’s afforded us the opportunity to relocate to France this summer, for a number of years—at least five! I am so slow in learning French, and so I have great respect for how important it is to learn a second language young. When we move, at the very least I will have three little translators.
I love drop-off because I feel it is a group of other adults who just had the same difficult morning as I did. At the beginning of the year, we are all literally exhaling after the kids go inside. So I just feel really seen. I’m always in my glasses with unbrushed hair, but I don’t mind this walk of shame.
After a total drive of about 60 minutes round-trip, I have a little time to get the house back in shape and, hopefully, squeeze in an Epsom salt bath while I order groceries on my phone. When I have an evening show and know I won’t be able to help that evening, I want my husband and the girls to come home to an orderly house. So, particularly on days when I won’t beat them home, I race to get everything back in its place.
The amount of cleaning and straightening as a parent is bananas. It’s nonstop. I honestly haven’t needed to do any cardio since having kids—I always tell people that I’m constantly walking and doing squats at my house to pick up all the toys. That’s been my cross-training for the last seven years.
I love company class; it’s the one time we get to all be together and socialize. After that,we are separated into different rehearsals and different ballets. I don’t think I would havemade it through this career without the laughter and the people I’ve gotten to share itwith. It would be miserable without the bond we have all created in this intenseenvironment.
KJ here is a young soloist, and we have a fun friendship. I try to get him to crack a smile; he can be really serious. I wear it as a badge of honor, getting him to chuckle. We did Coppélia last year at The Kennedy Center and it was a really big part for him. I really enjoyed kind of holding his hand through that. Those kinds of moments bond you for sure.
Last week, I hurt my left calf and had to scale back in my rehearsals. All I am laser-focused on is making it to my final show. I have so many people coming into town and I just want to make sure I get to enjoy it and not hobble through it. Luckily, my calf has calmed down, and I still feel prepared for all the dancing that needs to be done.
So, I’m retiring from the company this Sunday after almost 25 years—and literally the only sad moment I’ve recently had about it all is that I won’t have this beautiful Pilates space to work out in every day. I love being on the reformer; I love Gyrotonic too. We have it all here. When I retire, I am treating myself to an at-home Pilates reformer and will be doing it every day. It is the most cleansing feeling to stretch your body and strengthen it against that resistance.
I go through two brand-new pairs of pointe shoes for a full-length ballet like Coppélia. We customize our ribbons and elastics, so it takes about 15 minutes to properly prepare each shoe. I’ll be happy to stop this task when I retire. Usually I just watch TV on my phone while I sew.
Making sure your shoes feel good is 50% of having a good performance. You want the toe box to be very flat so you can stand on pointe and find your balance easily, but you also need a shoe that will last and support you through the entire show. The company pays for our shoes and we go through a lot of them, but it’s part of putting a good product onstage. I save my very best pairs for special performances.
