We attend a church where casual dress is the norm....but Anthony prefers a tie.
(Waiting to be seated at our favorite restaurant)
Anthony tired out a dance class last week. He really didn't want to because according to him, "dance is for girls." I asked him to try it one time to see what he thought.
I wanted him to try it because he is not a rough and tumble type of boy. He didn't do well at soccer because he wasn't aggressive at it. He was always outside of the pack watching all the other kids play. He said he wanted to do basketball but I know how that will end too.
I said try hip hop dance class with Larissa one time.
He did.....he came out grinning. He loved it. They did the moonwalk and some other moves. He wanted to know when he could get some shoes.
I knew that he would. He is very artistic. I think that he would love modeling if we were in the right area for that. He likes his clothing a certain way. When he gets older I plan on encouraging band.
Yes, he will be tall, probably folks will think he should be in basketball because of that. I have already had adults ask me why he doesn't do sports.
Our challenge will be allowing him to do what he loves without the teasing from boys. It is a shame when children who don't follow the path of the "norm" are picked on. I am not sure how long I will be able to keep him in dance. If kids find out and start picking on him I know that he will want to quit regardless of whether he loves it or not.
There are days when I totally understand the homeschooling thing. It takes kids out of the environment where they have to fit a certain mold or endure teasing. We are still trying to convince Larissa that she isn't fat and I don't understand that one at all. Why would anyone tell her that she is fat? Then there is the hair issue. Ugh, I won't get started on that issue.
So.......anyone else have a boy who isn't the rough and tumble type?
What type of activities do you have them in?
Maybe you could put him in boy's gymnastics and tumbling. Our gym has an all boy's competitive team and classes.
ReplyDeleteMy boy is not rough & tumble. He's a bit younger than your boy, but I am already exploring other avenues than public school for the reasons you mentioned. (As well as other reasons.)
ReplyDeleteDancing is great for boys and if he should ever go back to soccer it will pay off for him with his ball control skills.
ReplyDeleteI have 3 boys that are rough and tumble when playing outside, but don't really care about sports. All 3 of them take dance...ballet, tap and the oldest one takes jazz, also. They love it and like being the only boy around all those girls! My oldest participated in a parade that our studio danced in. His age group does a pom-pom routine and he loved that he got to be in the front because he was good at it. At the end of the parade, he was in tears. Adults were making fun of him along the parade route because he is a boy. Another dance mom and I told him that people were just mean and ignorant. The other dance mom said they just didn't understand that boys who can dance get all the girls. He cheered up. Hopefully Anthony will stick with it even if he is made fun of. Let him know that 3 boys his age in GA are dance dudes, too!
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