It can be a hassle, getting the kids off the bus, getting the afterschool snack and making sure that that homework gets done after practice for the activities your kids are involved in. Is the bag packed with all the dance shoes, writing the check for dance class or a private coach for batting practice, not to mention the money you are spending. Do they really have a chance for that college scholarship to a Big Ten School, much less an NFL career, Wimbledon or a chorus line on Broadway? Maybe not. Yet, the benefits from the lessons learned along the journey, from pursuing these goals may just last a lifetime time.
My mother-in-law took piano lessons growing up. She secretly wanted to play the harp. She had a classmate who played the harp, growing up in Pontiac, Michigan. Shari graduated in the top of her high school class and went on to the University of Michigan to double major in English and Dental Hygiene and was president of her class. She worked as a dental hygienist, raised four really good kids, helped run husband’s dental practice and directed the bell choir at Church. When she was in her forties, she took up the harp, studying at Ohio University and from their she started performing with other musicians, performing annually at the Renaissance Festival and at several venues both Michigan and in Florida, she recorded several CDs, with some of her music used in a major motion picture. As recently as just a few weeks ago, she performed at their church in Sarasota, Florida and at an art fair. Those music lessons early on inspired a life time of music performance, appreciation and giving back to her church and community, in addition to a supplemental income. Shari Burau never performed at Carnegie Hall, yet she has had a lifetime of enjoyment and inspiration from those music lessons as a child.
Art Grundy grew up in Flint Michigan. Most of his friends played basketball, like Glen Rice and others going on to play basketball for big school and the NBA. Art enjoyed playing tennis. Earning a scholarship to a school in the south, he came back to Flint after graduating and has taught tennis since then. Now in his late fifties, Art has inspired thousands of children and adults. In our family’s experience, Art helped inspire not only good tennis players, but good citizens. Art didn’t make it to Wimbledon or the US Open, but he has enjoyed a career and lifestyle that started all those years ago as a child on a tennis court in Flint, Michigan.
Looking back decades, I can still remember the joy of putting on a pair of ballet shoes and moving to the music. The feel of a barre, a studio and piano accompaniment in rehearsals and class. The dream of a part in the dance chorus of a Broadway show never happened for a variety of reasons mostly including that I don’t know if I really had it in me to take on New York, the rejections and grit it takes to reach such a goal, if totally honest with myself. Yet, at age 61, I will be teaching a class tonight at our local health club and the joy is still there. Dance has always been part of my life from teaching fitness classes, performing and enjoying going to show as a spectator. It’s hard to imagine dance not being part of my life until the day I die.
The effort as a parent it takes to help your children pursue activities outside of their academics IS worth your effort. There may be times you are dragging the ship along yourself in these pursuits and sometimes it’s time to say, “it’s time to stop.” But your labors will not have been wasted. They will have inspired lessons in what it takes to work towards a goal, lessons in preparing for a day of practice or performance and lessons in taking care of their bodies and minds to pursue an interest for a life time, not to mention, inspiring many Great Days.
