Yesterday Baby announced that she wants to quit ballet, which she does as part of her extra-curricular activities at school.
She used to love it, but she says it’s too much hard work. The problem is that I like the idea of her doing ballet. It’s good exercise; something that will keep her moderately fit and nimble as she grows up. It’s also the one major activity that she has done consistently over the years (since she was 5).
I was so happy to find a school that integrates academic and extra-curricular activities that I didn’t consider that Baby might be taking on too much until now. For this term, she does karate, gymnastics, swimming, ballet and modern dance - 30 minutes of a sports activity everyday was good, I thought. (Three compulsory, 2 optional)
But what has happened is that each activity director tries to get the kids to excel, and the classes have lasted up to one hour each day. And while that has been good for Baby’s weight control efforts and my obsession with keeping her active and healthy, I think I might have pushed too hard.
So we’re in a bit of a conundrum – is Baby tired of ballet in itself, or is it a target of her discontent because she has too much on her plate?
To buy time to consider all options, I negotiated with her that she continues with her ballet classes until the end of the term (5 April). We’ll revisit the issue when the next term starts in May.
No comments:
Post a Comment