Activities

I'm very stressed. I am trying to choose the appropriate activities for my child. According to Phillip and other hippies, I should just wait until the child gets older and let the child decide for herself what activities she would like to try. But children, left to their own devices, will only choose to play video games and chat on Facebook. You can't just hope that your child happens to have innate genius along with the self motivation to work and work and bring that genius to fruition. NO. To make a gifted child, you must MAKE it gifted. You have to give it activities and force it to practice at those activities. You have to teach it responsibility and focus and determination.

But WHICH ACTIVITIES?

Here are my ideas.

1) Violin
I like the idea of violin. Not only is it a beautiful instrument, a child can start learning it as early as age 3, giving the child the opportunity to become a virtuoso by the time she's in high school.

2) Viola
See above

3) Gymnastics
I loved gymnastics when I was a kid. If my child is "blessed" with my short, stocky stature and natural flexibility, it would be a shame to waste that "blessing". I was pretty good at gymnastics, but I never went very far with it. Now I can live vicariously through my child.

4) Mandarin
China is a big deal, and all indicators predict that they will be an even bigger world player by the time my child is an adult. It only makes sense to force my child to learn Mandarin. What if she wants to go into international business? What if she just wants to live in China for a while? How will that work if she doesn't speak Chinese? It's necessary.

5) Fencing
It's really cool.

6) Piano
I'm told that this is the best instrument to start a child on, because it provides the best musical foundation, and from there a child will be able to learn any instrument easily.

7) Martial Arts
Specifically Krav Maga. Our kid is going to be small. Let's be realistic. Being small is hard. It's unsettling to know that pretty much any one can kick your ass any time they want to. My child will never know that fear, because she will know 27 ways to kill a man with her pinky.

8) Ballet
There is a shortage of male ballet dancers. So if you have a son who is good at ballet, he will basically get free college, from the scholarships and whatnot. So if I have a son, I want to make him do ballet.

Actually, I want my girl to do ballet too.

9) Art
I suck at art and so does Phil. I never learned to do things like paint and sculpt and do crafts. I can barely draw stars. What if my child wants to be an artist? How will that happen if I don't make sure she gets art instruction from an early age? I can't rely on the schools to do it - after all, I went to school and the art projects they gave us didn't teach any real art skills - it was all pasting bits of tissue paper onto cardboard in the shape of a turkey. If my child is to be the next Frida Kahlo, I need to make sure she gets the finest art instruction.

10) Cello
It's my favorite instrument. I want my home to be filled with beautiful cello music.

11) Harp
I love the harp. Also, it's an uncommon instrument. If my child masters the harp, there will be less competition if she decides to be a professional musician. Less competition = better chance of success.

Those are my ideas for now. Ideally, I would have my child participate in ALL of these activities, but realistically speaking, we don't have the money or time.

Sigh. Decisions decisions.