to 'encourage' my dd to give up her hobby?

[georgieporgie1]

My dd(7) has been doing a hobby very heavily for two years, including doing competitions, with a large amount of success (not a stealth boast, just setting the scene). However, for a number of reasons this success is likely to not continue, and I suspect it's a large part of why she has enjoyed the hobby.
It's a very expensive hobby, which we had no idea of when we got into it, and means we can't afford family holidays, affecting me, dh and dd(3). It also involves a lot of afternoons hanging around for dd(3) waiting for dd(7) to do her thing, when dd(3) would rather be playing at home.

Some of her school classmates have recently taken up the competitive side of the hobby, and now the competitiveness appears to be spilling over at school in a not very nice way. My dh and I for various reasons hate the competitions and wish we'd never got involved, and my dd is certainly nowhere near as enthusiastic as she was, and never wants to practise.

However, she wants to keep doing the competitions. Would I be unreasonable to 'encourage' her to just do the non competitive side of the hobby, or even to swap hobbies? She is interested in trying out some other hobbies, but we have no idea whether they would suit her.

We all do...

'You can get UCAS points for dance exams'
only the crap universities use UCAS points

"'You can get UCAS points for dance exams'
only the crap universities use UCAS points"

A leeeeetle sweeping.............

QuarterMidgetraving prepares one for motocross or. formula ozone by racing in tune open vehicles that go very fast and cost mints.

I struggle to understand why the rest of family is required to make sacrifices for a 7 year olds hobby?

Am I the only one who wouldn't do that? And if I chose to make sacrifices for myself I certainly wouldn't allow it to have a detrimental effect on other siblings. And surely that would inevitably lead to resentment? Quite reasonably I'd say!

Apologies for the missed apostrophe....

one, not ozone. IPad anticipation error!

Am I the only one only reading the thread to see if the hobby's been named yet?

I'm struggling to reconcile 6 days a week with not being dedicated! Especially at 7

I need to know what the hobby is!!

Also, what do they use other than UCAS points... out of touch

LikeASoulWithoutAMind

1. No, you are not

and

1. I know, if she's doing the hobby six days a week, how is that not dedication? I fail to see how she could require practice if she's doing it that often.

A level grades in course-related subjects, eg a minimum of AAB with an A in history.

But those A level grades also represent a number of points don't they?

Yes, they do have points equivalents, but if an RG or other uni wants AAB in English Lit, History and Latin, then they won't accept ABB plus grade 8 music or whatever.

I suppose not

I'd guessed you could only use them (points from dance grade or music exams) towards related music or performing arts degrees. Though I may be wrong.

"The answer has nothing to do with what the hobby is

Well...it might have. For some hobbies, £1000 a term might be the starting point, while for others if she's bought all the gear it might get cheaper from now on. Similarly, she might be already doing as much training as anyone ever does - or she might be expected to start doing even more and more.

Also, for some hobbies there's the potential for high earnings if you're really good. If people were telling me my 7 year old was a shoo-in to be a Premiership footballer by the age of 16, I'd be rather more receptive to giving up the family holiday for a couple of years than if people were telling me they had a strong chance of going to the Olympics in their sport - but even if they did get to that level, it would still be "self funded" (lovely phrase, my favourite. "Congratulations, x has been selected to represent Great Britain at xxx championships. This event is self funded." I kid you not.)

None of DD's uni offers were for UCAS points, they were all for specific A and AS level grades. That included some offers from unis which are, shall we say, nowhere near the top of the league tables.

Which was a shame, as I'd been looking forward to feeling smug about the small handful of points she got for grade 6 piano half a decade ago for ages. (Not really).

So while there are unis which offer purely based on points, it's not worth giving up the family holiday for.

OH JUST TELL US WHAT THE HOBBY IS PLEASE????

Oh FFs she's still not told us the hobby? Yawn

I think it's tennis.

YANBU OP.

Ds was 'spotted' as a talented tennis player and we were told with the right training he could potentially become a professional. However the level of commitment to get to this level is extreme - financially and in time spent getting them to competitions, training etc. The impact on our family as a whole just isn't worth it for the miniscule chance of ds making a living from it IMO.

strikes tennis, riding and cricket (and Irish/Ballroom dancing but they weren't really on the radar anyway)off the potential list for young daughters

I want to keep music on there even though its expensive...
Rainbows should be ok, right?
Which sports can be enjouyed for fun and without silly expense?!

Depends. It's usually the competitive parents who bump the prices up, rqther than the participating child.

Oh, and coaches with a vested interest in keeping the spending up.

In my experience most sports can be done just for fun.

Two of my dc do a sport, they compete, dc1 at national level. There are dc at their club who choose not to compete. They all enjoy the sport though.