Entry FeedAfter my first week of ballet, I honestly thought about dropping out. Standing at the barr for over an hour doing boring exercises wasn't my idea of fun. I couldn't quite put my finger on what the problem was until I attended the hip hop class and had a blast, but I realized that I wanted to dance, not learn proper technique and other boring stuff.
I know adults who live vicariously through their children. They never made it to the NHL, so they want to push their kids as far as they can. They always had a dream to be a dancer, figure skater, astronaut, vet, _____________ (you fill in the blank), and they want their child to fulfill that dream.
I decided that I wasn't going to be that parent. That is why when the kids made hockey look great, I signed myself up. When I realized that I had always wanted to dance (while watching, "So you think you can Dance") I signed myself up for ballet. I give my kids some choice and flexibility in what they want to do, and if there was something that I always wanted to try, I try it myself instead of pushing them to do something that they don't want to.
This is what I have learned - No, I couldn't have been a ballerina. I've stopped thinking, "if only I had gone to ballet as a child, I could have been a prima ballerina!" and started realizing that even if my parents had spent every cent that they had on dance lessons for me, it I still wouldn't have made it to the National Ballet.
Let's be honest with ourselves; honest enough to let our kids find and pursue their own dreams. If we were meant to play in the NHL or dance at the Hummingbird Centre, we would be on the Leafs or dancing Swan Lake. We weren't. Get real.
Our children need to learn that it is OK to dream, but that they also need a back-up plan. (I call that back-up plan school.) I want to support their dreams in any way that I can, but I don't want to drag them toward my dream. If it isn't their dream, then I can't force it on them. And at the end of the day, I want to give them many opportunities so that they can grow up to be happy and successful doing something that they love. Isn't that what we all want?
Back to my ballet class. We are dancing, my toes are pointing, and I am working up a sweat and having fun. I close my eyes (to ignore those walls of mirrors showing me what I really look like) and in my mind I am leaping across the stage performing the dance from the Sugar Plum Fairies, and living a little of my dream for an hour a week.