Pushy Parent...... Moi???

Do I think I'm a pushy parent? That was a question someone asked me this week, (albeit after I joked about preparing my 3 year old for an Olympic gold for gymnastics in 2024)

But it was a serious question which I laughed off, no... Absolutely not... No... Am I?

I then shifted a bit uncomfortably and changed the subject.

So the question is am I pushy parent?

My girls are 2 & 3 and they both go to ballet, gymnastics and swimming every week.

I proactively encourage their written, verbal and numerical skills

They have both attended nursery one day a week since being 20 months old, even though I am a stay at home mum, I think it helps to develop them socially, emotionally and educationally (as well as helping to restore some of my sanity)

I have done a ridiculous amount of research and fretting about choosing the best primary school for Amelia and if I only had one child I would be 100% considering private schools.

I also have a list of activities for them to do when they are old enough.. Rainbows, martial arts, piano lessons... The list is endless

I would like to say that I don't really mind whether they win or are the best at what they do but since Amelia has started shouting winner, winner, chicken dinner. Do I need to say any more!

But I still don't really see it as being pushy, I believe in keeping your kids active, giving them a broad range of activities to keep them entertained and trying to give them the very best start in life.

I know some people think I'm mad running around so much and let's not even think about the cost of it. But I don't think I could be any other way, yes it's exhausting at times, some days I don't want to do it, yes some Saturday mornings I would rather we laze around in our pj's rather than doing two lots of ballet classes but what does that teach my children? We get plenty of lazy days in front of the tv, so I move my ass and hopefully help pave the way for my girls to lead an active and motivated life.

We're my parents pushy? Well this one is much easier to answer and they were the complete opposite from pushy. Not that they weren't interested or supportive, they were but they had no interest in leading the way, which I think resulted in me just drifting through childhood / adolescence and never making those critical career choices that we have to make at such a young age. I really don't want that for my girls and anything I can do, I will do (if that makes sense)

Anyhow I've still not answered my original question... Yes I probably am a tad pushy but I'm hoping when my girls have the title Doctor, Olympian, Principal Ballerina that they will thank me for it or at least still love me :-/



If you are in the Warrington area I cannot recommend Warrington Gymnastics Club and Melody Bear at Revive Dance School highly enough, they are fantastic!

www.warringtongymnastics.co.uk
www.revivedanceschool.com/html/melodybear.html