Finish Strong
For families with kids in recitals, it’s easy to be motivated to show up at classes the last weeks before the performance. We know just how important those final sessions are to feel totally comfortable in the dances.
But for people like us, who go to studios who aren’t having a recital, it’s easy to start skipping classes (or dropping them altogether).
I get it. Field trips…testing…it makes it really tempting to make dance a “voluntary” part of our schedule.
I’m sure you can guess that my priority is to keep showing up for class as long as there is one to go to. But what makes me feel that way?
- The biggest thing to me is that summer is already long. They’re going to have at least two months without classes, or with just a week or two of dance. That’s a LOT of ground to lose. Remember all the time they spent working on their splits? Without the reminder of a weekly class, it’s easier and easier to skip that stretching time. And it takes awhile to get it back in the fall.
- You’re paying for it already. Even if you actually drop class the last month, you’ve still bought their dance clothes…which aren’t too likely to fit in the fall. The teachers need to show up if there are any students, but it can be discouraging to see your class dwindle to smaller and smaller numbers.
- It’s good for the kids to see you follow through. If they see that you make it a priority to keep going to the end, it will teach them to do the same. In high school, my high school band director taught us this very thing: he called it “the last 19 seconds,” based on wrestling stories from his time in high school, and it stuck with me. I’m going to finish strong, and I want my children to do the same.
Please don’t feel like I’m trying to guilt you into anything. But if you’re on the fence about those last couple classes, may this inspire you to push through and get your kids those final couple hours in the studio!