It was a struggle getting Dakota to dance on Tuesday night. Her class this year starts at 5:15 pm which is only about an hour and fifteen minutes after she gets off the bus from school. So, she comes in, has a snack, does homework and then has to get her dance stuff on so we can be out the door by 5. It's rough. She cried and told me she wanted to quit and I told her if she was sure she wanted to quit she needed to let her teacher know that evening. That didn't really help because she only cried more and said she didn't want to hurt her teachers feelings. It wasn't my intention to make her feel guilty as I was only trying to see if it was what she truly wanted or if she was just feeling a bit overwhelmed.
We talked a bit and as she calmed down I reminded her that if she quit she wouldn't get to participate in the spring recital. She asked if she could quit for now and just join in time to do the recital. I explained that she couldn't do that and she decided it was worth continuing with her class.
When we got to dance that night she was in an okay mood but when she saw all of her friends her mood did a 360 and she was completely happy to be there. She quickly changed into her ballet slippers and went into the class with a positive attitude and even a big smile. To say I was relieved would be an understatement.
I will be honest though and say that while I will let her quit dance if she chooses, I will be very sad. For now I just think she's still getting used to a packed schedule but if we find that she's still unhappy mid way through I'll let her drop if she wants. Fingers crossed that doesn't happen but really, her happiness is more important than any dance class will ever be.
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