Activities & Sports

Badminton is paid for the whole year and now he wants to quit

citrus_hammock_4618

He told me tonight in the car, very casually, that he doesn't want to go to badminton anymore. We paid the academy for the full year in June and bought him a new racquet only in August because he said the old one was too heavy. My first reaction was to say "but we've already paid" and I stopped myself just in time. I don't want money to be the reason he continues, that's not a good reason for anything. At the same time I'd like to understand what changed before we decide. How did you have this talk with your kids without it turning into a guilt trip about fees? He's a sweet boy, he'll just go silent if he feels cornered.

9 comments

  • orchid_lantern_7649

    i quit tabla at around his age. my father never once mentioned what he'd spent on it. i think about that more than i think about the tabla

  • jade_river_5343

    Has he said why? Coach, friends, or just bored of it?

  • moss_marigold_6629

    daughter dropped dance at 13. turned out it was the class timing clashing with her friends, not the dance itself

  • moss_veranda_8292

    The money is gone whichever way it goes, so it probably shouldn't decide anything. The harder part is whether stopping in the middle of the year tells him commitments are optional. I don't think there's a clean answer there. We let our daughter stop swimming after three months, and some days I think it was right and some days I'm not sure.

    • citrus_hammock_4618

      That's exactly the part I keep going round in circles on. I care less about the fee than I thought I would, but I don't want him to learn that you drop things the moment they get boring. Maybe finishing till the term ends and then stopping is a middle path ❤️

    • gentle_drum_2498

      Replying to @citrus_hammock_4618

      Finishing the term sounds reasonable, but I would let him propose the end date rather than presenting it as a condition. When we set conditions for our elder son, he treated them as a sentence to be served. When he chose the date himself, he actually kept going properly until then. That is only our experience with one child, of course.

    • citrus_hammock_4618

      Small update, spoke to him after lunch. It's not boredom at all. The academy moved his batch to the late slot and now he never gets to play cricket with his building friends in the evening. Had no idea ❤️

    • fern_bottle_4884

      Replying to @citrus_hammock_4618

      So the problem is the batch, not badminton. Ask if he can move back to an earlier slot before deciding anything else.

  • cinnamon_diary_4195

    The racquet is what I'd struggle with honestly. Ours has been sitting in the cupboard since my daughter moved to skating last year and every time I open that cupboard I want to say something. Still haven't

    • citrus_hammock_4618

      Ha, ours is leaning against his study table right now and I'm trying not to look at it every time I pass. Worst case I'll start playing on Sundays myself, arre at least somebody will use it.

  • coral_puzzle_5555

    It may help to separate two questions, whether he stops and when. Stopping now keeps the conversation simple, but you lose the chance to see if a batch change fixes it. Waiting till the term ends gives you that information, but he may go unwillingly for two months. I honestly don't know which one I would pick.

Add a comment

Share what happened for you. Plain text; be kind and specific.

Keep going

Keep reading

More from the parents who were here.