You must have read at least once about how our now 5.5 year old daughter has been enjoying her dance classes for over a year now. Well, we are facing a problem for the coming school year. Since she will be attending full-day kindergarten, she will not be able to get to any of the dance classes offered for her age on time. They are all scheduled to start while she is still on the school bus. She will have to take at least a whole year off because of this scheduling issue, so we suggested to her that she take taekwondo like her two brothers. She immediately declined.
I worked on her for several days. I even explained to her how taking TKD would help her to become a better dancer because it helps with her balance and lower body strength. I also told her it was good exercise and even tried to throw in a "girl power" pep talk. As a last resort, I even tossed in a few ideas for bribes . . . a trip to Build-A-Bear Workshop, a shopping trip to Justice, and even the possibility of a small pet. Still she didn't budge.
When it came time for the boys to get dressed for TKD, I told our daughter to put on a pair of our oldest son's TKD bottoms that he had outgrown. She was not thrilled about the idea at all. When we arrived, I tried to get her to accompany me into the class just to observe, but after a few moments she ran back into the waiting room. Luckily, the owner of the school, who was also the instructor that day, was able to expertly "trick" her into returning to the room by insisting that she help him with something.
I did have to accompany her into the class, but after about 20 minutes or so, I was able to slip out. Our daughter participated in the rest of the class with a smile on her face. Then, when they were about to practice a few kicks before the class was dismissed, I saw her say something to the instructor. I couldn't hear what it was since I was watching her through a two way mirror.
It turned out that she had expressed her concerns to the instructor about how kicking the bag could possible chip the nail polish on her toes.
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