As a parent, I think we have an idea of the activities we want our children to partake. Seriously, who doesn’t want their child to be a Grand Master champion or be a finalist at the Scripps Spelling Bee or the next Yo Yo Ma or the next Lindsey Vonn. I am no different. Over the years, I have signed up my daughter for chess classes when she was in elementary school. She enjoyed it but not passionately. Then there was 5 years of ballet classes. Again, she enjoyed it but when it came to taking it to the next level of 3 classes a week, we said bye – bye. Mind you the cost was an issue but if she had begged to do it, I would have found a way to pay for it.
And swimming was one sport, I thought hey this might be it. She loved swimming and took to bettering her strokes even expressing interest in trying out for the swim team. Alas, there was no begging this year when it came to try out.
My one hope was that she would take to music and she did sort of. She loved playing the drums. From the first time she sat down at the drums, she could actually play and sing at the same time. Can you imagine? Drummers at the event who gave her first lesson told me I should get her lessons. At one point, I thought of buying drums but again there wasn’t the begging I thought there were would.
And then this past Christmas, she asked Santa for a guitar. I found this interesting that she even went there.
Santa did not bring her a guitar but her godmothers pitched in and bought her a guitar. One of my friends bought her a Guitar for Dummies CD which she opened and started teaching herself the chords.
Of course I knew the the teach yourself method was going to cut it long term. although I just knew she needed structure and encouragement from an outside source (trust me, it’s hard lesson to learn that the Tiger Mom way of parenting doesn’t work on my daughter.)
Lucky that my blog husband, Mitch at gaynycdad.com recommended his son’s guitar teacher. It’s only been two week’s of lessons and it’s hard to say if this will be her passion but at least she will be able to play the guitar.
And for the record, I hope he teaches her new song soon because, I don’t know how long I can listen to to Smoke on the Water.
Stay tuned.
Does your child have a passionate hobby or sport that you have encouraged?
Lol, Smoke On The water would get old soon! I guess all you can do is encourage them & hope they find their passions. (P.S.–I love GayNYCDad, too!)
It’s so great when our kids have talents. As long as they don’t think they have to just do it for 1 day, then move on, that gets really old. Our son plays piano and is just thinking of starting guitar, too! 🙂
Very cool! My son is 4 years old and doesn’t have any hobbies or sports yet, but it’s time to get into one (or more). I tried music classes for a while, but he didn’t really enjoy them. I think that a sport would be good because he is so energetic.
LOL Smoke on the water… that would get totally old after a bit! Kudos to you for encouraging your daughter to explore her interests and not forcing the issue if/when she loses interest. I tend to nudge my sons a little too much towards sports as I see their natural talents for (and think scholarships!) It’s hard to sit back and let them carve their own paths, but I’m trying to be better about it.
That’s such a thoughtful gift. My daughter is working on her drums. I have plenty of guitars both electric and acoustic should any of my kids want to give them a try.
It is so important to have a healthy support system with your kids, we support our kids in whatever they want to participate in, both our kids are involved in sports and love it, but our son loves drawing out of the sports thing, so we recently got him a art set. He loved it!
I think it is good to get kids involved in a lot of different activities to spark an interest that can last a lifetime. My son plays the drums, guitar and loves music!
This is awesome. My oldest daughter is passionate about soccer. I bought her a practice net and go to every practice and game.
I loved hearing about all of your daughter’s pursuits…she is certainly well-rounded. That’s such a good thing for kids to experience a variety of activities. You never know when a hidden talent will be discovered.
My sons passion was shown through playing with other children and one day he joined the Army. Thank you, Jerri Davis
I loved this article! My son wants to be a chef and he is great at art too. My daughter is a singer. We help these passions along.
It is important to support whatever talent your child has.
My children are adults I always supported them from day one.
I firmly believe in supporting my children on what they truly believe in. My son is in ROTC at school and really wants to join the military.
Smoke on the water is awesome, but I can see how it could get old. I think it’s awesome to support your kids passions.
So far I have one grandson who loves football, two that love baseball and a granddaughter who likes cheer leading, which didn’t pan out. I hope they find their passion soon whatever it is.
That’s wonderful your child is exploring music. My mom had to make me practice and I was never good. It’s a good start though that it’s your child’s wishes.
I had to laugh as I read this. I think all of us parents let our kids try to find their passion. I can think of a dozen sports, music, and dance classes we’ve been to. I think it’s important to give them the chance to try new things until they find their passion. I’m still waiting for my daughter to find hers.
I think we should encourage our childrens passions also. God blessed us each with special gifts and we need to use them. Thank you so much for sharing this article
Encourage, be supportive, but also be firm. Too many parents just say YES all the time to their kids. Then they have no idea how to deal with not getting their way. I’ve seen it over the years with friends’ children, and it’s not pretty.
My kids are older and have guitars they play when they feel like it and thats ok I dont push it at all.
my son is an executive chef and I am so proud of him. No culinary schools. All self taught and perfected. !
LOL we did everything we could to encourage anything my oldest wanted to do and he would quit it was very frustrating until we stepped back and said what makes you happy and what makes you proud do it for you not for us! That changed everything!
i think it is very important to support and encourage our kids ! it defiantly will help promote healthy self-esteem .
great support we have to have today!! to much peer pressure!! my son will be a great wrestler!!! he is passionate
I’ve been a youth baseball coach and I think there is nothing more frustrating than a kid who could seriously not care less about a sport but is there because one of the parents is pushing HARD for them to be the next ARod or Barry Bonds. I even had to step in when a parent started yelling at someone else’s kid that he HAD to play on the All Stars team, saying “You OWE us!”. (Pardon me? A 13year old OWES you? Back off, bucko!)
And I hope your girl improves much faster than the middle-aged group of guys who have a garage band in the next block. They’ve been practicing (more like butchering) Freebird for the past 6 months. Perhaps the musky pungent smoke that drifts over with the music explains a bit….
my daughter is into the arts, she loves drawing and has been playing flute for 3 years now in the school band… I make sure I support her by going to her concerts and listening to her practice for upcoming events-it’s always helpful to let her know that I support her and she’s been wanting a purple (her fave color) flute and I will be getting her one soon.
ENCOURAGE A CHILD TO EXPLORE ALL EXPECTATIONS
I think it’s important. You never know what/who he or she may become
I always tried to encourage them in anything they did but I am surprised that now they are men they went in a vastly different direction than I ever thought they would
My youngest daughter LOVES reading so I’ve encouraged her by getting her books, thats really her only hobby…she could read all day 😉 My oldest daughter has many hobbies, when she was younger she loved guitar so we encouraged he by getting her lessons.
All of my grandchildren has certain passions and all of their parents support them completely. I also support my grandkids in their passions because it helps to enrich their lives as well as keeps them out of trouble.
I love encouraging my kids and you wont believe the difference
It’s so important for a child to feel supported when they make positive choices. I respect my parents immensely for backing me when I wanted to attend culinary school. They knew what the work conditions and lifestyle would be and still backed me.
Guitar is great for kids. Skill they will have all their lives.
My daughter loves singing and dancing!! We try to encourage her in everything she does.
Our daughter has always been a wonderful and creative writer! I agree that it is important to support your child’s creative passions, although it may take them a while to discover what they are.
It is important in helping build self-esteem .
My daughter’s passion is birds so she joined a club where she can learn more about them.
My children are grown, but I’ve always supported every one of their passions! Their passions changed over the years for 1 of my children,..but still supporting!
I think that is wonderful music is her passion.I agree that I could only handle so much “Smoke One The Water” LOL!
Yeah, Smoke on the Water would get old real quick! My daughter always flitted from one thing to another. She tried piano lessons for a while but she really didn’t enjoy it.
My children are like yours they are interested in something for a while and then in fades. I think that it’s fine because it gives them exposure to a lot of different things. I do wish I had not got my son the drum set that he used for barely a year, but hey live and learn. The one constant in all of my boys has been soccer, which is also the sport I played. I hope none of them deter from it because I really don’t care for any other sport- lol.
I always let my kinds try anything and everything they wanted to try sports, music or what ever