Thursday, June 9, 2011

Backstage at the ballet

Before the performance; Dancer is in the back row, 3rd from left
Dancer's performing this week. It's the end-of-year blitz, which is followed by a complicated schedule of open classes to fill the gap until summer programs begin, and then it's time for the big trip to another city for a month of six-days-a-week of ballet. 

We are still torn about which dance studio to have Dancer attend in the fall. There are advantages and disadvantages to both choices. One huge benefit is that the TPF (Toxic Parent Factor) is small at either location. I tend to like most of the moms, and this is unusual in the ballet world. If you've never been in the waiting room of a pre-professional ballet school, imagine Mama Rose (Gypsy) with a gracious smile and Manolo Blahniks, whose Macchiavellian streak is as strategically non-hidden as her casual relationship to the rich and famous.

It's not always that bad. But sometimes it is. Tell me your worst Toxic Parent story, and I'll tell you mine...

2 comments:

  1. gosh. i can't think of a toxic parent story. wait, at the kindergarten orientation we went to, the principal went on and on about special education which prompted a question from a parent about how they serve gifted/talented kids. when she later asked why they didn't do foreign languages in elementary school, i leaned over to my husband and said "i hate her". i don't even know who she is/was.

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  2. My son is a rising 8th grader at a small Catholic school. At the recent graduation reception for this year's 8th grade, which is hosted by the 7th grade class and parents, a fellow class parent questioned my son about his grades. She wanted to know if he had ever scored lower than 100 in any class because she was trying to figure out if he would win all the awards next year. Toxic, indeed.

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