Little Miss Perfect/Toddlers and Tiaras

[KSUViolet06]

Originally Posted by AlphaFrog

As a mom, this is where I struggle. I would love to get my kids into something that they could translate into something (professional dancer, Olympic gymnast, concert pianist, professional baseball player, etc), but how do you know what to put them in without overloading them to figure out what that thing would be? I know a few things are out: My daughter likes dancing, but she doesn't have the natural grace and she's probably going to be quite tall (which also kicks out gymnastics). She likes music, but one minute thinks she'd like to play the harp, flute the next, piano the next. As a musician, I realize that many skills transfer, but the focus is obviously not there. My son has actually shown some aptitude for gymnastics, but is not great at following instructions (he's 4, so he still has time to grow out of that). I feel like if I'm going to get them into something NOW is the time, but I don't want to shove them into something just for the sake of it.

There's nothing wrong with letting them just TRY the thing they show interested in, even if you don't think they have the aptitude for it or it doesn't end up "going anywhere."

Ex: my brother played football, baseball, and basketball at some point in elementary school. My mom knew all along that he wasn't built for baseball or basketball, but she didn't want to tell him he wasn't allowed to try. He tried, and he eventually realized that he liked football and was better at it. So he focused on that for MS/HS.

At a young age, it's all about letting them try stuff and figure out what THEY like, evn if you don't think they're super good at it or you think they'll go further or have more opportunities with something else.

Lots of people I know KNEW they weren't good enough at dance/gymnastics/etc. to be Olympians/college athletes/whatever, but kelt going with it just because they enjoyed it. That's ok too.