Clash of commitments for DS. Which does he do?

[Balletgirlmum]

I have a bit of a dilemma.

DS is in his school show. Only chorus this time (he played the lead lastvyear) but he is featured chorus rather than the main chorus.

He is also a member of a hockey club. He's quite new there but loves it. He's not good enough for the school team but the club is quite inclusive & invites him to play the occasional match (he's a goalie) despite not being first choice.

When DS signed up for the school show he was given a list of dates. The school has a priority system so things like school team matches take priority over rehearsals but there are designated priority rehearsals which take precedence over other activities. This includes 3 compulsory Sunday rehearsals.

The hockey team uses an online system. You enter any dates you are unavailable into the calender & get invited to matches via an ap.

One of the Sunday rehearsals was supposed to be today but DS came home last week to say it was postponed & moved to next Sunday instead. I emailed the drama teacher on Friday as DS was off sick & asked for timings as we've got miss Saigon cinema tickets booked for the rest of us. I've not had the timings back yet. Officially its 10-4pm but sometimes if you are only chorus you only have to go for half a day.

Would you believe it this morning I got an invite for a hockey tournament next Sunday at 1pm. It will be the first chance this season that DS has had to play in a tournament.

I don't know what to advise him to do. Turn down the hockey match or miss the rehearsal.

Hockey

I'd let him miss the rehearsal, if he prefers the hockey.

Any experienced drama teacher knows that when you have to re-arrange a weekend rehearsal there will be some families (often the most diligent) who cannot make the new date (as they have piled all their other commitments onto the dates when there were meant to be no rehearsals).

If he prefers the rehearsal, then you just wait for another fixture to be offered (it will be)

Drama, he goes full session even if not required if that suits your timings better.

I had already arranged for his grandparents to have him next weekend due to him not being old enough for the cinema. They will take him to either hockey or the rehearsal (though the cinema is within walking distance of his school). The hockey match is an away match.

I used to teach drama out of school so my initial thought was he shouldn't go to hockey but I wondered if my preference wS skewing things.

I should have changed the hockey unavailability on the ap on Friday when I emailed the drama teacher but I didn't get round to it.

he loves both hockey & drama.

Do hockey. They may not offer again anytime soon if you turn them down.

He can practice drama at home especially a chorus piece and having had the lead role last year they're not going to ignore him in the future productions.

Hockey. We have lots of rehearsals for various things, but if they rearrange times then things already booked for that date have preference. They can't expect people to drop everything and rearrange their lives.

Argh! I've just had the rehearsal schedule through for next week too. Lastvyear the ensemble rehearsals were mostly Wednesday's after school except for the week before the show.

Ds is scheduled to be at rehearsal on Tuesday 4-5.30. Except his paid for outside school drama class is 5-6pm the same day & he has a speaking part in that show.

Let DS choose & back him 100% in his choice.
If he wanted me to choose, I'd choose hockey b/c I favour exercise over drama.

ps: not sure about the other conflict, is that your misplanning? Try to juggle, I guess!!

No it wasn't my mis-planning.

The school drama teacher issues school show rehearsal schedule on a week by week basis & you attend the dates/times applicable to your role.

Chorus had always been on a Wednesdsy before but this year seems to be a mixture.

Sounds like you need to find out if the drama teacher can get rehearsal dates out much further in advance - a week's notice for a change of day is pretty rubbish.

I'd send him to Hockey and the paid-for drama session, on the basis those are prior commitments that are only clashing because of the last minute time changes.