loss of coordination

[Pauline]

Believe it or not dd is always being complimented on her gracefulness in ballet class, it is one of her stronger points. However, when she is not in the structure of a ballet class she is VERY clumsy.

 

Today just as she was going to get ready for ballet she actually RAN into a door jam! She has a swollen and bruised cheekbone, and a swollen abrasion on her thigh. Needless to say she didn't make it to class. This is not that serious,but, I am curious if anyone else has a child who seems so contradictory. I am assuming that things are getting alittle worse for her as she is growing faster than ever. I am just hoping that this will pass when her growth slows down (but she has at least another year or two to go !).

 

She is quite upset about this herself, and swears someone must have moved the door on her Any experiences I can relay to her would be greatly appreciated.

[Mrs. Stahlbaum]

I don't know if this is good news or bad news, but my daughter has finished her growth spurts and is still unusually clumsy. The other day she even fell off of a chair for no apparent reason. She runs into things all the time, except when she's dancing. In my experience this seems to be normal for a lot of dancers.

[Victoria Leigh]

Well, I once cracked a rib walking into the door jam in my own bedroom! And I have broken one or the other baby toe any number of times, also with totally clutzy moves. Actually, strangely enough, dancers can be quite clutzy off the stage, even once they are finished growing. Stairs, especially UP, can be highly treacherous. I don't know why, but they are. I think we walk into things a lot because we don't expect anything to be in our way, since it's not there on stage, and of course we are not busy looking downward when we walk!

 

As to those going through growth spurts, it's not at all unusual for them to be a bit more clumsy than usual, so tell her not to worry about it. This too shall pass.

[LadyR]

I can appreciate this thread. I often say that my daughter is the only person I know who can fall sitting down. Graceful in class, yes. In the house is another story.

[K8smom]

My dd can be a clutz, too, and she's 19 and finished growing.

 

I was a gymnast in college, and we always joked that the better the gymnast was in the gym, the klutzier out of the gym. It was true - our best gymnasts were the ones who regularly walked into doors and fell down steps.

[Pauline]

Well I guess its good to know that she is not alone!

 

As dd was reading the replies she started laughing, she reminded me that last summer she fell UP the stairs to her bedroom (leaving a scar she still has) and she also "fell off of a chair for no apparent reason" just the other day.

 

It does seem quite funny that such graceful creatures could be so incredible clumsy, you just got to love it

[vagansmom]

Victoria's comments echo what my daughter has said in defense of her occasional clutziness, "I can't help it. Dancers eat up space."

 

It doesn't help that their feet stick out like penguins.

[Cabriole]

I'm always telling people, "If dancers are so graceful, why do they put us in large empty rooms without furniture?"

 

As an adult, I insisted that my kitchen counters and other major furniture have 'bull-nose' corners, of which I appear to have a magnetic attraction.

[dancingthrulife]

When we speak of our DD we always say how glad we are that she is always dancing around the house. It seems once she slows down to a walk she is constantly tripping and bumping into things. Go figure!

[its the mom]

I can't count the times my daughter has tripped over her own feet to fall flat on her face. Her friends used to tease her all the time. What an enigma! Dancers who bumb into things or trip and fall, but who also dance gracefully all over a stage.

[Treefrog]

I too have a DD who once fell off a chair for no particular reason! Flat onto her face, too. Weird...

[PleeA]

I always figured that just plain walking is hard for dancers because it isn't choreographed!

[allegrafan]

Growing up in my house, when either my mom (a dance teacher) or I (ballet student) made some klutzy move, you would here "dancer?" shouted out. I don't think there was a more accident prone house on the block . I was always walking into walls. My mom has had three broken legs, five broken arms, and all toes broken many times. She was diagnosed with Osteoporosis early on, and I think that that has made her much more careful.

 

Allegrafan

[msd]

It's been a rough week for my poor dancer -- she's just finding her center, after growing over 6 inches in 12 months , and now she's got this terrible cold. Poor thing came out of class sooooo frustrated yesterday -- apparently, with the cold, her balance is off. The most recent ballet-klutz trauma was last weekend, when she bumped the shelf with her Nutcrackers on it...there was one fatality -- a favorite snowglobe. I keep threatening to put her in a bubble!!

[balletbooster]

Hmmmm..... Since my daughter broke her collarbone in mid-March, she has run full speed into an outside wall?!?!, fallen while walking?!?!, opened the car door into her forehead?!?!, fallen off so many things I can't begin to recount them, etc. etc. etc.

 

Have you seen that commercial where the mom is watching her son stumble through the growing up years and she says things like, "It will be a miracle if he makes it to 5, 10, 15, 20, etc." Well, I think that commercial must have been inspired by dancers! I think the same is true of many athletes. Maybe because they are so focused in their athletic/dancing pursuits, that when they leave that venue, they let down their guard completely. I don't know for sure, but I do know that minor accidents are very common around our house!