Wild toddler kicked out of ballet class

[Tayebanks]

I’m really unsure if I’m doing something wrong DD is 2 (28m) and is very wild and energetic, she rarely listens to me outside of the house. We’re not a tantrum family she rarely has them she just prefers do her own thing. Her behaviour has caused me a lot of problems in public with people staring making me feel uncomfortable and because she’s also shy when people stare it makes her cry. She loves gymnastics class and we’ve never had any issues, she’s also very well behaved at nursery it’s just ballet class. We’ve been going for 2 terms now and she seems to enjoy it but recently she’d been getting very distracted preferring to play with the props the teacher leaves in reach than actually participate. I got a text message from the teacher and it made my mood feel dull because I’m actually proud of her improvement of being around new faces and trying her best to be involved but now I feel like that’s not the case. The problem is literally just her getting distracted because she likes to touch everything I do get involved and redirect her but I feel like she doesn’t feel involved. Also when she’s doing her side quests it’s not distracting the rest of the class at all. Do I pull her from ballet or stick it out?

Normal for a 2 year old, take her out shes far to young for it.

she’s only just overcome being extremely shy in the summer so her just being there without clinging to me and hiding is a big accomplishment for us. I honestly don’t expect anything of her but to act like a usual 2 year old and I’m more than aware she’s still learning. It’s more of a self conscious thing where I feel like I’m being judged because she’s the only one who will get distracted for 2-5 mins in the middle of the class. There’s no tears and smiling throughout so I don’t really know hence why I’m asking for advice :)

Nobody has suggested you shout at your child…
Does she really not understand much of what you say to her? That sounds quite concerning, and kind of begs the question why you’d take her to a class where she’s expected to follow instructions?

My son (now much older) does dance but not ballet. At one of his dance school events not too long ago a very young teacher was attempting to get the baby ballet class (age 2-4 I think) to show parents what they'd been learning. It was complete chaos, they all just wandered around playing with the wands they'd been given.... It was hilarious and completely normal for that age! As parents we all smiled indulgently at the cute little kids in tiny tutus, I was certainly not judging them or their parents!

When I say just being a normal baby/ toddler I mean literally just that honestly. We went into co op after nursery she had skipped her nap and was a bit upset because her shoe was falling off and a lady was literally staring at me with a face of a slapped ssa then continued to stare into the pushchair shaking her head.

which is what you’d expect and is wholesome to watch. A normal mum at last haha

Agree that being outside in the park will be FAR better for her than being in a class with other toddlers!

My son is quite similar in wanting to explore/run around, but I go to classes where exploring and activity are the default. And we go to the park A LOT.

(partly because I want to avoid germs...)

I never forgotten a story thing I went to with a friend at the same age as your dd. My dd and her ds ran laps around the pub with us trying to catch them and get them interested in the story ..needless to say we never repeated the experience and kept to the park. Dd did baby ballet at 3 but it was mostly running around. Sounds like the class isn't right for your dd. You or dd aren't doing anything wrong. Try again in a couple if years. Hug as I remember that awful story thing and how embarrassed it was. The other three children there were sitting nicely and listening. DD was used to rhyme time in the library but took one look at the story thing and saw her friend and decided running was more fun.

My second is like this. He's lovely just very wild and wants to explore and climb and jump. Apart from tumble tots where he can run wild all over the gymnastics equipment, we don't do structured activities yet. Lots of time at the park, even in the rain and cold, walks in the woods, just out the house where he can run, explore, play with sticks and stones and poke the mud and jump on tree stumps. He's 3 in January and has always been like this. I took him out of baby sign at around 14 months because he just got in others children's faces and tried to get their attention by poking their eyes or pulling their hair... (He doesn't do that anymore), or would move the furniture around instead earning the nickname the Hulk.

I'd take her out of ballet right now and try again in a few years (if she wants to).

Toddler story time at the pub?

I wonder if perhaps some of what is going on here is your possibly a little over anxious and worrying too much, having had an NICU baby who still suffers with a lot of viruses and hospital trips. I'm just completely speculating here not knowing you at all but perhaps you are a little hyper aware of the reaction of members of the public to your child, perhaps you are hyper aware of her sometimes different behaviour because perhaps you are worried about her fitting in and being normal and not falling behind compared to non NICU babies?

2 year olds can be absolutely mental, members of the public can either be completely rude or wonderfully kind and everything in-between, the odd stare is normal, sometimes we are having a bad day or we're in a mood and seeing a grumpy or wild toddler is just irritating and we forget to be kind.

I'm also flabbergasted there are ballet and gymnastic classes for 2 year olds! It was all church hall parent and baby groups, soft play dates and swimming sessions in the baby pool (so no need for parents to be able to swim) when mine were that age. The thought of trying to get mine to behave in a proper dance class is mental, my eldest was still shitting his pants and not speaking at aged 2 (he's a totally normal, functioning, very articulate, well behaved 13 year old now).

I'd say, take a step back, forget ballet for a year or two, breathe, both of you try and relax, enjoy the already sometimes over-stimulating festive period doing less structured stuff and try and just have relaxed, free (in both ways) fun together.

Why not? Plenty of pubs are very quiet during the day and/or have separate areas where you could easily put on an event for parents and toddlers, and obviously serve soft drinks and coffees. Village pubs, in particular, are a really good community resource for things like that.

I doubt anyone's putting on toddler story time at 9pm on a Friday.

Oh, the tut-tutting brigade. We ignore those idiots, didn´t you get the memo? I got very adept at it.

Rugbytots is good fun if you have it in your area. I personally waited until 3 to do any kind of instructional class as I could tell mine would not enjoy it before then!

Aw OP, she sounds just like my DD. I remember taking her to a party at that age and all the children sat down playing games and she would not be still, she was running round the room touching everything climbing on things. I told her off.
A bit embarrassing but she grew out of it.

Your DD is so young! I wouldn’t worry about taking her to dance class just yet. It might not be for her. Maybe something outdoors would help better when the weather is nicer? Or a complete different exercise? Mine did bouldering from age 4 and it was great to get out pent up energy.

I'm sorry to hear that, but if she is in the park wrapped up warmly, I agree with others that she is less likely to catch germs than if she is mixing with other kids inside.
It sounds like she just wants to be a free spirit, which is great.

My son was hyperactive....apart from the obvious energetic ways he let off steam, the one thing that encouraged him to sit still for more than 10 minutes, occupied his mind and kept his interest....was good old fashioned LEGGO.

I was you 7 years ago. My 2 year old was a bloody nightmare at baby ballet. She couldn’t focus and wasn’t bothered at all whereas some of the kids were little angels listening perfectly. I just think she was too little. She then started pre school ballet somewhere else at 3 and loved it and got on well. I think sometimes they can just be too young for some activities.

As far as i can tell, she hasn’t been “kicked out” at all?

I got a text message from the teacher

and what did the text message actually say?

Fair enough. Maybe Londonrach doesn’t actually live in London.

There’s no way that mine would have engaged properly in a ballet class at 2. We used to take her to football and she would just run around with a big foam ball in her mouth!! We gave up on it when she was three as it was starting to get embarrassing 😳

She is distracting everyone else and is not suited to the class, so yes you should pull her out before they kick her out. Go to your GP and book some parenting lessons so you are able to help your child.

This is the thing she’s going to boast about when she’s 30 - that she was a free spirit from a very early age to the extent she was too much for her ballet class, aged 2. Work with her toddler personality OP, not against it!

I was asked to leave ballet as I didn’t pay attention. I famously during a performance went and sat piano and had a chat with the pianist. I was 3. I can’t ever imagine ballet was for me.