27.9.10

On ballet

Remember my delicate flower?


Yeah. That was lesson one. Lessons two and three weren't quite as productive. She asked me to leave her for lesson two and did a great job. For ten whole minutes. Then she laid on the floor and refused to participate.


For lesson three, I decided that having me there would make a difference. And it did, for 20 out of the 45 minutes we were there. Under my gaze (which alternated between The Look and exaggerated encouragement), she tip toed and chassed and butterfly flapped like a reluctant pro.

But for the other 25 minutes, she lolled on her belly, played pretend on the ballet barre, stood with her arms crossed, ran back and forth across the studio, refused to step on anything but green blocks, had 510 drinks from the water fountain, poked at the other girls, and picked her nose. And if either her instructor or I came near her, she'd run and screech.


It was a pretty phenomenal display of immaturity. Like, text book.

And so our days of ballet are finished for now. Just like when I paid $50 for Javi to have swim lessons at age 3 and he shivered and cried on the side of the pool, Bella just isn't ready to jump into the world of ballet. And I'd much rather sit at home in my pajamas instead of sweating it out in the dance studio or listening to the exorcism in the back seat.


But tell me why after she stopped crying and screaming "my ballet class!" in the car on the way home, she giggled and said, "How 'bout we do some shemnatsticks now?"

And I'm actually considering it.

***This post is part of the 30-minute blog challenge.***

22 comments:

  • Unknown

    haha sorry that is pretty cute and seriously how cute is she in her tutu and ballet slippers!

  • Anonymous

    Cera didn't do well in ballet, either, but she loved gymnastics from day one. And LCPR has a great program. :)

  • Sarah (tabrizia)

    Honestly, Desmond wasn't ready for soccer when we signed him up for that this past spring. He would participate for maybe 10 minutes, not listen at all, run away and tell me he was done and drop to the ground. And then try to get me to take him to the playground near-by.

    He was however ready for gymnastics, same length of class, though fewer kids, only 8 compared to 20 with parents and siblings. More instruction in gymnastics actually, but something about it really appeals to him and he loves the fact he can walk on the balance beam, jump on the trampoline and jump in their foam pit, plus his forward roll is quite good now and he's working on his back roll. Sometimes they are ready for one activity and not another, and there is no real reason why. In fact he is good in gymnastics without a parent and had issues in soccer with a parent right there.

    I say try out gymnastics the worst that happens is it doesn't work out, but Bella strikes me as a kid that would love gymnastics!

  • Bibliomama

    Snort. It's funny because it didn't happen to me! Yeah, try the natchkitch (that's what's Eve called it). Maybe ask how they handle recalcitrant specimens first... :)

  • Liz

    we opted for a tumbling class first, too. i figured the gross motor and total body activity would keep kate's interest more than the moves and precision of ballet. i think you might get lucky with schemansticks.

  • amber_mtmc

    Um, what an ordeal for both kid and parent. I don't envy the melt downs at ballet. Maybe tumbling would be better!

  • Cheri

    No doubt Bella is a pistol. And if she's anything like Rachel was at 3, she'll love the trampoline but refuse to get off when her turn is over! Gymnastics does seem more Bella's style though.

  • Anonymous

    I have been there for soccer and t-ball with Samantha. She loved gymnastics and ballet as well as her swimming, which she is my little fish. Spencer likes t-ball but doesn't apply himself at times and we have days when he refuses to go to taekwondo until we get there. She will find her thing.

  • Jessica

    Love this! I'm sure almost every parent in the world can empathize. Noah was the same with soccer-- but loves gymnastics. But boy, is that little non-ballerina of yours a cutie...meltdown and all (and yes, i know...easy for me to say from a distance of the screeching...)

  • Kelly Miller

    I am loving all the "me too"s! I probably should've known considering how Javi handled swim lessons at 3 (and he's a waterbug now). At least we have this fun memory!

  • Nina

    hahahaha so funny for me. not for you, huh? I'm sorry you went through that but thanks for sharing.

    here's mine - http://parentplanet.info/?p=1641

  • TKW

    I had Miss D. in "shemnastics" when she was young and she acted a lot like Bella did in ballet class. We took classes for two years and she never advanced.

  • Jack Steiner

    That made me smile. My daughter was the same way.

  • Jami

    Bella and I may be kindred spirits in that, I always love the idea of doing things. It sounds fun and glorious to be on stage, but the reality is usually not so glamorous.

    We had a tantrum at "gymnastics" because my daughter was put into tumbling to learn the basics first. She hates the word "tumbling" and bursts into tears if someone says it. Its great fun.

  • Anonymous

    Haha! Awww! I'm popping over (and now following) from our group blog! :) This reminds me of when my oldest wanted to try foopball at 4. Yeah, you know the kid who chases butterflies and plucks up all the grass? Well it wasn't my kid. *cough* I really love your writing style so now I'm heading over to the ADHD blog!

  • se7en

    Oh I just love your potential ballerina!!! Very sweet!!!

  • Amber Page Writes

    Well, she did look really fricking cute in her tutu. Could she wear that to gymnastics too?

  • Melissa

    Gotta love it! We tried gymnastics with Hayden but it didn't work out. It's tricky trying to find what they like - good luck!

  • Rudri

    The same thing happened to me when my daughter started swim.
    She loved the first two lessons and then subsequent lessons were a bust.

    I have to echo my fellow commentators - she does look super cute in that tutu!

  • Anonymous

    I know this wasn't funny for you at the time, but your writing and photos really made me smile. (For some reason, the one of Bella lying on the floor made me laugh out loud.) But rest assured that my smiles and laughter are those of resonance and camaraderie: it's so nice to know that I'm not the only mom who's ever tried to soothe an unsoothable child on the sidelines of some activity. Hope shemnatsticks works out better!

  • Draft Queen

    My daughter did the same thing with ballet. ;-)

  • Cheryl

    LOL! Even lolling on the floor, she is one cute ballerina!

Post a Comment

I'd love to hear what you have to say! (If you want an emailed response, be sure to enable email in your Blogger settings -- see a tutorial here.)

Now. Spill it!