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Will she ever find something and stick to it??
Brianna was in gymnastics for a couple of years, and I really thought she liked it. Obviously, she didn't have the same views about it as I did -- I saw her progress from a clumsy child to one able to walk a balance beam with ease. It was so nice to have her in a program that offered excersize, teamwork, coordination, new friends... and she liked it.
Now, not so much.
The Little Gym in our town also offers dance and karate. I aksed her if she wanted to switch into another program (partly because we had already paid for another semester), and I was sure she would have said dance. "Oh, I already know how to dance," was her response. Karate it is.
She loved the new class, and especially loved her gi. Now -- a couple of months later -- she has no interest in going. I have no interest in taking her somewhere she's unhappy going, but she made a commitment to the semester and should at least finish it.
I didn't take her the last couple of weeks, and I'm regretting it. I should have put my foot down and told her she's going.
She's shown interest in music... my sister and step-mom have pianos and she's drawn to them whenever she visits (she was thrilled to learn "Ode To Joy" on her grandma's piano). She was also given a guitar from her great-grandpa and she wanted to learn to play it, but when I bring up music lessons she hums and haws.
She's always loved art... she has an easel downstairs and a huge stash of paint. She'll often paint a picture or two. She says she wants to go to art school, but I had to explain that would when she is much older. I suppose I could look into some sort of classes.
She wanted to join a musical theatre group this season, but her 6th birthday is not till June so she was considered too young.
I just don't know if I can sign her up for something just to have her realize it's not a play date. She has to work at it. She has to practice. She has to behave and pay attention. Am I too cynical? Simple fact: we can not afford to waste money on something she's going to drop after a couple of classes. On the other hand, how do I know what she'll like if she doesn't try it?
Sigh.
Comments
N is different . . . it has only been recently (the last few months!) that she has not thrown a fuss about dance. She's been going since she was 4 and it is HARD work! It's like ballet, technique technique technique - repetition . . . hard hard work! Now that she's getting older, she's learned the Lilt and LOVES that and her costume and also her teacher had another baby in Jan. and so an older teen girl started teaching N's class and N liked the change. As for piano, well, the teacher wasn't doing MYC anymore so we started with private lessons at age 4. Sometimes I wonder why we did. Anyway, she's playing some really fun and jazzy pieces now so is enjoying it more. She says she wants to quit violin but I now now that we need to just stick with it and it'll balance out. Piano is the kids' primary instrument, violin is just for, well, um, fun - although they'd probably beg to differ but it's something I can do with them and learn with them.
I'd say to let her be. She'll mature and start sticking to things more. Personally, I'd take her out of the Little Gym when this semester ends and look at the parks and leisure centre. Their things are usually 8 weeks or so and so she can go for an hour a week and do art and stuff. Nice little snapshots of things that interest her. From doing these things, my kids have seen that they like pottery, and N really likes painting. She'll be in full time school next year and I really think kids need time at home, "bored" or not. I mean, we did it! I barely had any extra-curricular activities and I don't want to go that far with my kids as I think, as kids get older, they need a place where they belong but letting her be for now would probably help her find her own way and entertainment.
Something we do as a family is "art night". It's just low-key, we do whatever we want. I printed out some Alice in Wonderland pics on watercolour paper and the 3 of us tried that out. It's all about experimenting. Sometimes N will do a paint by numbers or one of those small canvas ones with the picture on it from the Michaels cheapy aisle. For us, this is a budget-friendly way of us all sitting together and doing something involving the other side of our brains! I am the incredibly non-artistic girl, so it's not like I have all that going for me!
And that's something the twins could do too. Sit down, get out some paint, and the 5 of you go to town! I know art night is something N really looks forward to.
Going back to the school thing, she'll get some gym there, and recess and lunch time to play, so she probably doesn't really need a hugely physical activity outside of school - what about Girl Guides? That's like a play date with a purpose. So know that you made a good decision for Bri when she was little with the Little Gym (learning balance etc.) but now you need to embrace the older child in her and go that way.
Okay, so in summary of my ramble:
1. it's okay to not have any other activities for now, truly.
2. MYC would probably be an excellent fit for her but one of you has to be involved and go with her etc. Google it.
3. Girl Guides is social, or another group similar. She'll have so much structure in school, maybe she'd enjoy something freer.
4. Family art night is something we enjoy over here. We don't necessarily do it every week but it's a cheap family-bonding activity.
Love ya!