My daughter's activites?

[ReneTL]

I am sitting here with my youngest dd and we are trying to decide what activities she should do this coming year. She wanted me to ask the hive! :001_smile:

 

She has been dancing ballet now for 3 years and is quite talented, but there are some things she isn't crazy about - mainly, she only likes the performances and isn't crazy about the classes. The school where she dances is part of a professional company and the instruction is top-notch. They do a professional production every year of The Nutcracker that both my girls LOVE. My DH and I want both girls to dance one more semester/Nutcracker to make sure we have taken ballet as far as we really want to go. (My oldest is also a bit sick of it, but not as adamant about quitting.) We just finished swimming on the summer swim team and DD7 loved it. We won the city championship meet and it was a blast for everyone. (They even won medals!) Now she doesn't want to do ballet at all and instead wants to swim this winter. There is a team at the YMCA that isn't over the top that we can join.

 

The grown-ups concern: she will give up something that doesn't really allow for quitting/rejoining and have regrets later. In addition, I will be juggling ballet with DD10 and swimming with DD7 and I will pull out my hair before it's all over.

 

My DD's concern: her mind is made up and she REALLY wants to swim, not do ballet.:chillpill: (Her icon!)

 

What says the hive?

[jujsky]

If she really wants to swim & not do ballet, then she should swim. If ballet isn't her passion then she should explore something else that might be.

[Rosie_0801]

I think someone is more likely to continue swimming for recreational purposes than ballet. I think if someone wants to quit ballet after three years, they have given it a great deal of thought and have judged themselves to be ready to move onto a new area. I think members of a performing ballet troupe deserve to have team members who are passionate about their work. I think if someone feels they miss dancing, there are plenty of other styles that can be learned, with and without competitions.

 

Rosie

[Jean in Newcastle]

If she really wants to swim & not do ballet, then she should swim. If ballet isn't her passion then she should explore something else that might be.

 

:iagree:

 

I think someone is more likely to continue swimming for recreational purposes than ballet. I think if someone wants to quit ballet after three years, they have given it a great deal of thought and have judged themselves to be ready to move onto a new area. I think members of a performing ballet troupe deserve to have team members who are passionate about their work. I think if someone feels they miss dancing, there are plenty of other styles that can be learned, with and without competitions.

 

Rosie

 

:iagree:

 

So far, I agree with everyone!

[Mommyof4ks]

If she wants to swim let her swim! Yes, you will be crazy by the end of the season, but hey at least the kids will be happy. :001_smile: I have 3 kids all in different activities, and yes we run some days, but it is so worth it to see their faces light up after doing what they love. She knows how to dance now and can do that on her own if she wants to. Whatever the final decision have a great year and enjoy the activities!

[kwg]

:iagree:

 

And at some point maybe carpool?

[Denisemomof4]

If she really wants to swim & not do ballet, then she should swim. If ballet isn't her passion then she should explore something else that might be.

 

:iagree: OR, your could do the perfect combination of both and have her do synchronized swim. Just today I was again thanking my lucky stars because my oldest dd is entering her third year of SS. The practice is only 2 nights per week, competitions and year end shows will never total more than 6 in a year. AND, when we do compete, we have trips away alone! It's the perfect sport for our family.

 

Our friends have dd's in dance and they can have practice 6 times in a WEEK! Then the competitions and summer camps and all - our family would never get involved to that extent.

[Pretty in Pink]

I think she should swim.

[Bookworm Mom]

I went through something similar late last year with my 8 year old. She had been a gymnast since she was tiny and was supposed to be competing and she decided she was done. We talked a lot about it and then she quit. She is now in full time soccer (she used to play but not as intensely) and still swims twice a week.

 

She doesn't regret her decision so far (it has been about 7 months).

[Mom0012]

I'd lean towards just letting her go ahead and switch to swimming if you can handle the schedule. Are there opportunities at this ballet school for performances other than the Nutcracker as she moves up? If so, is she aware that if she continues to work hard at ballet, she will have a lot more chances to perform?

 

One of the things that really keeps my daughter's interest going in ballet is knowing that if she continues, she will be able to perform with the school's ballet company as she gets older. I think without having that goal in mind, she would be less interested in sticking with ballet.

 

Of course, my daughter swims as well. This year we will be swimming on Tuesdays and Thursdays and then going to ballet afterwards. I am hoping it's not going to be too much for her, but she assures me it will not be. We will see.

 

Lisa

[plansrme]

I have a swimmer and a gymnast who both do ballet as well, so I appreciate your dilemma. These are factors I would consider:

 

1. If she does not like ballet classes now, they are only going to get more so (more intense, more boring, longer, more painful) as she gets older. Yes, her performance opportunities will be greater, but there are a lot of classes in between. If you don't like the classes, it would be tough to stay in ballet.

 

2. As a swimmer, she can compete, and for some people, competing is more fun than performing. So if she has a competitive streak, I would lean towards swimming.

 

3. Swimming can be drudgery also if you don't like it. Some kids do love it (my 10 yo looks at you blankly if you ask if swimming laps for 2 hours is boring), but if possible, I would let her get a taste of it before dropping ballet completely.

 

I love both swimming and ballet as activities for kids, so you can't go wrong either way.

 

Best of luck with your decision.

 

Terri

[bettyandbob]

swim. She should not continue in something because her parents think she is good at it or because it is convenient. Yes, it may be hard to juggle 2 kids in different activities. However, there's a good chance you will dislike dragging her to something you wanted and she didn't and there may be resentment from both of you. It's not worth it.

 

The one thing I tell my kids though is if they pick it and it turns out it's not what they wanted, they must finish the season or year, whatever the commitment was. I do not think 7 is too young to understand making a commitment.

 

I have 3 kids. 3 different activities. I plan ahead for dinners. I baked and freeze numerous dinners every month or so because of the school year afternoon time crunch. By planning ahead the schedule isn't so crazy.

[Night Elf]

It sounds to me like she's hoping the hive will convince you since she wasn't able to! :tongue_smilie: Smart girl! I can't imaging putting money into an extracurricular activity that my child doesn't like. And how on earth can one more semester of dancing make that much difference? It sounds like you're hoping she'll dance the Nutcracker again and choose to stay in dancing another year. But that didn't work this last time obviously.

 

I know it's overwhelming to think about 2 kids in different activities, but you have 2 different kids with different tastes. It seems awfully unfair to make them do the same thing simply for convenience. Interests, and even passions, change. I'd rather have my children have a wide array of experiences over forcing them to stick with just one. At the moment, none of them have any extracurricular interests. Dd12 doesn't want to keep doing piano right now. She quit and went back to once already. She might do it again. I hope so. She's got talent. But I think it's wrong to force it on her if she doesn't like it. That's how my dd18 hates her viola now; her musician father pushed it way too hard.

 

I am siding with your daughter on this one. Sorry!

[ChristusG]

I'd let her do what she really wants to do. It's no fun to drag a kid to an activity that they really do not want to participate in.

[Laurie4b]

One question I have is whether the "high" of just winning the championship is influencing her decision. (And was swimteam new this year? If it was new, it may be the novelty that is appealing, and when it comes down to the discipline of hard workouts over time, she'll feel the same. )

 

I would tend to be with you and your dh about finishing up this last semester of ballet. Sometimes kids come to a place where the discipline of the thing is hard, but they need help getting over that hump and to a place where they will be grateful that they did.

 

I think I would go with what you and your husband have planned and revisit the decision after the Nutcracker (which would be equivalent to making the decision after the championship...kwim?)

 

If she can't re-enter ballet as easily as swimming, I would give ballet this one additional semester and then if she still wants to swim instead, she can.

 

I also think family considerations, such as how many ways you can drive at one time, have to factor into decisions.