Would you rather......

[DadOfStubborn]

This is a hypothetical question my siblings have been discussing. Would you rather have an academic child or a musical one? We are discussing because my dd is pretty academic but not too musical and my niece is the opposite and there are a lot of pros and cons.

i meant it as a rhetorical choice

bump

Music as music brings so much joy to the child and others. Tbh I just like a happy and healthy child.

Academic- but that’s probably because I’m not musical and I don’t feel like it’s really disadvantaged me whereas I think being very weak academically is a disadvantage due to the way the economy is structured and the qualifications needed for most well paid jobs . Tbh I’d choose sporty over musical too.

Academic so they bag a strong career and succeed. Music can be learnt as a hobbie.

I have one of each 😂 an acedemic one and a musical/sporty one

Academic, every time

Horrible question. I'm shocked people are answering. So what do you do if you have the opposite to what you want? ....try to mould them to what you want? Lowering their sense of self and self esteem as you go. Constantly compare them and feel hard done by?

I have a non-academic child who is also non-musical. Not really sure what to make of your hypothetical question.

Interesting which one would you rather be

Calm down no comparison made its purely hypothetical

I'm chill. I still think it's a horrible question.

Academic. Couldn’t care less if they are musical, arty, sporty etc.

An academic one.

Chill your boots it's just a question, people are allowed an opinion.

My child is not academic or musical she has ADHD and ASD and I'm just happy she is happy at school and scraping through the GCSE year.

I would still rather have an academic child though.

As a child I was neither so I’m unsure to be honest…that didn’t stop me getting 3 degrees and a great career though so it’s all about drive to be honest. I hate sports though so I’d probably choose acedemic on that basis

Pros and cons for both.
Just because your academic doesn’t mean you’re going to end up in a well paid job. Plenty of folks with degrees working minimum wage jobs these days.
Unless you’re incredibly talented and lucky (right place right time) it’s very difficult to make a fortune in music.
DS(1) is very intelligent but left school with 2 GCSE’s due to ADHD and Tourette’s syndrome.
He’s a self taught guitarist, he can listen to a song a couple of times then play it. He’s incredibly talented. I love nothing more than listening to him belt out Metallica songs!
I’m incredibly proud of him for being him.

That's really cool!

I thought this was going to be the more fun would you rather fight one hundred duck sized horses or a duck the size or a horse (mini horses for me). @Scribblydoo please start this thread, especially if you have other wonderful examples. I’m going to think about those fight options off and on all day

Musademic

What a strange question.

Children aren’t accessories, they’re autonomous individuals. Being academic or musical are innate qualities which should be encouraged.

That’s entirely different question.

The issue with being a professional musician isn’t that they aren’t paid well, it’s that it’s almost important to be become one. But at that age you shouldn’t be thinking of your kids as little capitalist cogs.

Huge agree. I don't think it's po-faced, as an earlier poster suggested, to think this a batshit crazy question.

Would you rather your child had abnormally large hands or abnormally large feet?

Would you rather your child was an obsessive Star Trek fan or an obsessive Taylor Swift fan?

Would you rather your child couldn't swim or couldn't ride a bike?

Stupid questions, all. My children are all a complex mix of passions, talents and abilities. They're not robots with an "academic" or "musical" chip to be inserted in them. And it's grim to me to see so many people answering (in effect) "the one that makes them most money."

Musical. I think a life of music and creativity has a lot more to give that a life of being able to remember facts and repeat them on demand.

Neither path has to lead to your chosen career, but I think having music even on the side as a hobby is really satisfying and enriching, and you can be part of a community of creative interesting people very easily.

Sorry if I offended anyone! I meant this as like a stupid, lighthearted question and am not being serious