Activities & Sports

Three activities started and dropped in a year, and now she wants to try another

citrus_compass_5721

Skating, then keyboard, then swimming. My 14 year old starts every activity with total enthusiasm. New shoes, a keyboard stand, daily practice for two weeks. By week ten she's finding reasons not to go, and soon after that we've stopped. I'm on a rotating on-call schedule and she's often home with our caregiver in the evenings, so part of me thinks she just needs something to look forward to. But I'm starting to feel like I'm funding a trial-class tour of Kokapet, and she's already talking about the next one. Do you make them stick it out for a fixed term, or keep letting them try until one lasts? Neither feels obviously right 🙂

3 comments

  • fern_piano_3814

    Same story with our magalu at that age. What helped a bit: she chose the thing, but agreed before starting to finish one full term whatever happened. After that it was her call. She dropped two that way and kept the third, which is still going.

    • citrus_compass_5721

      One full term, agreed upfront. That's fair, and easier to hold her to than me deciding halfway. What was the third one, if you don't mind me asking?

  • juniper_sparrow_1738

    My older one is 10 and doing exactly this. I started asking what he didn't like before he quit. Sometimes it was the activity. Twice it was a boy in the batch. That needed a very different conversation ❤

  • coral_puzzle_5555

    I've gone back and forth on this. Sticking it out teaches something, but so does knowing when to stop, and at 14 she'll judge that better than she would have at 8. What I'd watch is whether there's anything she keeps going back to on her own, without a class. That tends to be the real interest.

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