Isn’t it about your kids having fun?

I overhead a conversation the other day at Megan’s school. A mum was talking to her little girl’s dancing teacher and saying “I want her to become a professional dancer. She should get the opportunity I never had”.

This to me was very sad.

How can you push your dreams as a parent on to your children? Shouldn’t the child WANT to do it for themselves? When does encouragement turn into overbearing PUSHING of your children into a certain direction?

Isn’t having outsized expectations and applying too much pressure are two big mistakes parents can make?

Most kids won't grow up to be professional dancers or athletes. Most won't even earn university scholarships for a specific sport.

I think children should be taught to embrace the journey, not the destination.

If your child has a natural talent for something specific and they LOVE to do it, then I think achievement should be encouraged. But, how can we as parents know that our children are not just looking at a certain achievement because they get some sort of reward (medals, certificates, trophies etc) or if they truly want to develop their skill in a particular something?

Shouldn’t it be the coach or teacher’s duty to inform the parents that their expectations are unrealistic? Or are they just in it for the cash?

Then again why would I remove my child from doing something she loves so much just because she’s rubbish at it?

Shouldn’t it be all about the child having fun no matter what the achievement?