Been sidelined with a bad case of the flu. I haven’t danced at all this week, which is absolutely killing me. But enough about me. Let’s talk about Science Boy.
He goes to an absolutely first-rate ballet school with faculty of impressive credentials. His teacher is an ex-pro and was trained in the Bolshoi school. He sounds kind of like Borat but don’t tell him I said that. Anyway, this past Monday, an email went out to all the parents of the Lower School students. It asked that if our dancer is interested in participating in the school’s next show (in this case, an original ballet by SB’s teacher), that we send an email back by this Saturday. The email also outlined the cost and time commitment involved. The money is pretty reasonable ($150 for costumes and such). But the time requirement is considerable. Starting February, there will be rehearsals every weekend, and the entire week before the show will also be devoted to rehearsals (which also happens to coincide with our school district’s spring break).
I sent an email back to the AD asking if SB, with his scant training (he’s only been to five lessons total), is eligible to participate. After a day, she emails me back and says that yes, he is welcome to participate, but for the boys in the Lower School who only go to the all-boys free class, they will also be required to go to another class, the “real” class with the girls. She has generously agreed to waive tuition if we are willing to do it.
I was like, wow! Another free class for SB! He’s starting to really like his class a lot so I thought he’d be all over this. Plus when I asked him if he was interested in being in the show, he said yes. But when I told him that he also had to join the coed class, he looked at me askance and said, “I’m not ready for that, mommy.”
I said, “Not ready? What do you mean? You’re doing great in your class!” He said, “But the class with the girls is different than mine. It’s harder.” Which is true. It will be a lot more serious and the expectations will be a lot higher. Seven-year old girls are a lot more mature and disciplined than seven-year old boys, let me tell you. And I think he knows this too and wants none of it. For him right now, ballet is fun. But if he joins the girls, I think he knows it’ll be WORK.
Of course I’m disappointed. I wanna see my kid onstage! Plus I want to take advantage of the additional free class. This school ain’t cheap and so the offer of a scholarship is wonderful. Here’s that parental dilemma we all eventually encounter: when is it okay to nudge our kid vs. when do we listen when he says STOP? What if he’ll actually be good in the class (or what if the class is actually good for him), but he just needs that extra little push so that he’ll overcome his fear, rational or irrational it may be?
Ah, well. The rehearsal schedule will also overlap with soccer season so the clash of the two schedules might decide for us. Still, I think I can make it work with soccer if only SB says he would be willing to give it a go. But he doesn’t even want to try the coed class! What do you guys think? Nudge or accept?
