When I was 12-years-old my friends all joined community theater; so I begged my parents to sign me up. Everyone was so excited to get their parts in the big Peter Pan production after try-outs had gone on for over a week. I couldn’t sing or dance and I believed in the “there are no small parts” saying. That’s until I was cast. As a kangaroo. What? There is no kangaroo in Peter Pan you say? Well in our version there was, and it was because there were too many children for all the parts. So I was the unluckily child who was cast to play a kangaroo, who in the 2nd half of the play hopped out in Neverland and handed Wendy a pillow.
For that 2 minutes of “acting” I had to participate in all the rehearsals, dress rehearsals and hours and hours of work leading up to opening night. I was mortified, embarrassed and begged by parents to let me quit.
“You wanted to be in this play you will see it to the end,” my parents said, ” you are not allowed to quit”.
Let’s be clear I love my parents and their attempt to teach me commitment BUT….I think it would have been ok to be quitter. I was so embarrassed in that costume, my face painted brown and sticking out of the neck hole with the stuffed kangaroo propped on my head. My friends were all Indian Maidens or extra lost boys, but not me, the kangaroo was the second animal in the play, the other was the crocodile who wanted to eat Captain Hook. Now THAT was a starring role.
So now that I am a parent, I wonder what is the best way to handle these situations?
According the HERE.
Do you allow your kids to quit activities? What guidelines do you have?
