The five year old recently started dance lessons. He likes to 'bust a move' at home every now and again and we'd talked about starting dance lessons for a while. He'd always preferred to carry on with his football, but after watching the Diversity show on TV over Christmas, he seemed to find a new found respect for those talented young chaps and spent the next week going around with his baseball cap on backwards.
We have been to the class twice now. Twenty minutes into the first class he turned to me and gave me the biggest grin and a thumbs up. He couldn't wait to go again.
Last week was the second class and there was a much smaller group: only himself and three girls. He got stuck into the routine straight away - so far, so good. Then the teacher asked each child to do the routine on their own while the others watched. Gulp! My heart was in my mouth as he walked into the middle of the dance floor; wondering whether he would do it or get stage fright or just feel uncomfortable in front of the girls.
Not a bit of it! To my absolute delight, he stood there and danced his little socks off.
I was SO proud of him. What a long, long way we had come from a year ago when he started football lessons and spent the entire time clinging to my legs.
There has been a lot of coverage recently about Chinese Parenting and Tiger Mothers, following the article by Amy Chau in the Wall Street Journal. Anyone who knows me will confirm that I am definitely not a Tiger Mother (more like a tiger cub, if truth be known) and would be the last to push my children into anything they clearly didn't want to do. That said, if ever there was a case for encouraging your children to explore different experiences and sticking with something, even if it is tough at first, then seeing my little guy busting his moves last Monday is it.
He'll probably go off dancing completely by this time next year, but I'll wear my 'Mummy' badge with pride for as long as it lasts.
Source: http://hotcrossmum.blogspot.com/2011/01/no-tiger-mothers-here-just-pride.html
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