Mom Bows Out of Competition
OK, parental venting time…I spent all of last Saturday at a dance competition with my daughter. Now, some of the kids were really good. Others were, well, so-so …
My daughter’s group competed in something like “large group category, 9-11, tap,” which I believe had about three troupes contending (as opposed to “medium group category, 9-11, tap” of course).
Turns out they won “top first” (as opposed to simply “first,” which the other group won). “Whoopee!” I thought. Now let’s go home. Not so fast…
The kinda swarmy announcer then said, “And you were so good, you get to go to New York to take master classes.” Uh-oh. I knew this was trouble. My kid was beaming from ear to ear as she handed me an envelope with the trip details. I don’t even know what the trip entails. All I saw was $2,000.
Yikes. While I love the idea of my child getting up the gumption to dance on stage (something I would never do), I’m a bit done with phony rip-off competitions. Dance is cool because it gives you amazing confidence. That’s a great reward in itself. Let’s just leave it at that.
My daughter’s group competed in something like “large group category, 9-11, tap,” which I believe had about three troupes contending (as opposed to “medium group category, 9-11, tap” of course).
Turns out they won “top first” (as opposed to simply “first,” which the other group won). “Whoopee!” I thought. Now let’s go home. Not so fast…
The kinda swarmy announcer then said, “And you were so good, you get to go to New York to take master classes.” Uh-oh. I knew this was trouble. My kid was beaming from ear to ear as she handed me an envelope with the trip details. I don’t even know what the trip entails. All I saw was $2,000.
Yikes. While I love the idea of my child getting up the gumption to dance on stage (something I would never do), I’m a bit done with phony rip-off competitions. Dance is cool because it gives you amazing confidence. That’s a great reward in itself. Let’s just leave it at that.
