Unknown – Weds 14th Jan 2015
By Jeannette | January 14, 2015
For a couple of years now, D has participated in a voluntary weekly after school sports activity at school. It gives her the chance to experience both team work and turn-taking, something that she does struggle with.
The sport changes every half term and she’s always invited to participate, together with more or less the same group of students.
In previous activities they’ve taken part in football (D wasn’t a fan as it was a bit too fast and too much contact for her), kurling (she enjoyed this), basketball (similar issues as football) and trampolining (a favourite).
This time around it’s Dance and there’s even a dance teacher coming in to do it, she’s a lucky girl to be invited and I thought, as she loves to boogie down to “Just Dance” and enjoys her music so much, she’d be really looking forward to it.
Not so. It was that fear of the unknown. Not knowing the music, the dances, which other pupils would be there and ….well just everything.
It made for an over-anxious and pale D and a really quite fraught walk to school. D, being D, didn’t want to tell her teachers what was wrong (that confidence issue), so I did. Taking her upstairs to class even though it’s not really allowed, I couldn’t leave her in that state and nor – I think – would she have reached class in a particularly calm state.
It’s quite difficult to leave her when she’s agitated but you have to have faith that she will enjoy her day and she generally does, once she knows that teachers are aware what’s wrong.
So, how did she get on?
Well, although there was a moody moment when I collected her, she’d generally enjoyed it and wants to take part again next week! She didn’t want to talk about the dances they did or the music, that’s for another time when she’s relaxed and amenable to discussing it.
The challenge now is for her to remember that she enjoyed it, before the anxieties kick in again next week.
But, for now, I’d say she conquered that Unknown!
Because D was at after school club, it was a chance for T and I to have some time, some coffee shop time. I enjoy our 45 minutes or so and he does too, a chance for me to ask him how he’s getting on without him getting frustrated at whatever D is doing. We have – if he’s in the mood – quite interesting chats too, today it was all about what he’s been doing in Science.
Not the best start, but the day got better. I hope everyone’s day has gone well Jx
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