Thyme Posted July 26, 2013 Report Share Posted July 26, 2013 Happy days! Good for him for managing his nerves. One thing that my husband and I did with DS when he was about your boy's age was to prepare some answers to questions. He seemed happy to have some replies ready instead of having to think them up on the spot. These have varied from fairly straight ahead lies to more tactful answers (the suitability of each was based upon different scenarios and types of people asking him). We encouraged him to keep the tone light, not get defensive if asked about ballet in particular. In fact as I recall, one particular answer to a potentially more taunting question was to offer to bring in a tutu for the classmate in question. DS was ready to offer a tutu to this boy given his obviously keen interest! Quote Link to post
JacquelineInAus Posted July 26, 2013 Report Share Posted July 26, 2013 Fantastic, pasdedeuxmama. Congratulations to your son! ~ Jackie Quote Link to post
chel Posted July 27, 2013 Report Share Posted July 27, 2013 Congratulations Pasdedeuxmama! It's a dancer! In our case, DS has been dancing for 7 years now, 4 of them seriously. Dance is how he defines himself. He's awkward in some other settings, but his whole personality changes as though the weight of the world has been removed from his shoulders when he walks in to the studio. We still let him choose which friends to tell, although after three years of missing some school in December for Nutcracker most of his classmates know. He has only encountered one incident of bullying over it to the best of my knowledge and that had to do with wanting to perform at a summer camp talent show. The good news is, he will never encounter that group of young people again! As long as we show support and interest in what he does and he has a group of male peers at the dance studio, he'll be fine. It sounds like your son will have male peers and role models. You can't ask for much more than that. Enjoy his new found enthusiasm and see where he lands. Good luck! Quote Link to post
chel Posted July 27, 2013 Report Share Posted July 27, 2013 Thyme, what types of questions did you have your DS practice answering? As we enter middle school this year I'm a little concerned about the reactions he will get in a larger setting. Quote Link to post
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