Signed Up For Torture

Yesterday, I took the kiddo to her second zumba class! The class is only 30-minutes, but it goes by really fast because all the kids have so much fun. Except last week, at the first class, one little girl cried almost the entire time. She was at least 4, maybe 5, and she wouldn't stop crying even though her mom was next to her. There are two ways of looking at this: (1) The class is paid for, it is good exercise, so gosh darn it, the kid is gonna do it; or (2) If the girl is so miserable that she can't stop crying, and the crying is annoying distracting everyone else, she needs to leave and try again next time. Yesterday, I was curious to see if the girl showed up for the second zumba class. What do you think happened?

Well, she was a no-show! I have come to the conclusion that this is an epic parenting fail, and the mom is a wimp. Wimpy Mom could have prepared the girl--dancing at home, talking about what was fun about the class and why dancing is a good form of exercise, and reminding her child every day that they were going to try the class again. Notice that I am not advocating forcing a child to participate in an activity she clearly dislikes, merely giving it enough of a chance to see if she will do it.

 What would you do if you took your child to an activity and he/she only participated under duress? Make him/her continue, or let him/her off the hook?