Extra cirricular activities

I experienced the same thing with my daughter, who is 15 and it took quite a while to find a niche. She loves to sing and is in a choir at school. She also plays soccer and is involved in some clubs. She never has latched on to that one thing - and I think it's fine.

sure, fine, whatever

I think that the only thing that's important is that, if she starts something, she needs to finish it. If she never wants to do it again, that's okay. She'll find her joy.

That's a good question. My daughter is going into her 3rd year of dance and she's 5. She started when she was 3 and she likes it. Although, sometimes I get the "I don't like dance" or I don't want to do dance" she always has a good time and enjoys herself once she gets there. Although, we tried soccer when she was 3 and she wasn't into that at all and when I suggest giving it another try even now she's not interested. We also did gymnastics for probably 6-8 months and she liked that during that time she was doing it, but all of a sudden she wasn't interested any more. I've made other suggestions like tee ball and she hasn't been interested. She's shown a little interest when I've mentioned basketball. Dance is really the only think I've been able to find that she actually is interested in and keeps an interest in.

I think the most important thing is that she doesn't quit before the activity has run its course.

My parents enrolled me in LOTS of different activities when I was in grade school (ballet, gymnastics, archery, cake decorating, baton twirling, roller skating, etc.), and although most of them were fairly short classes (usually the 6-8 week session at Parks & Rec), I really learned a lot about what I enjoyed doing and what I didn't like or really wasn't good at. When I found an activity that I really wanted to keep doing, they'd sign me up for another round or two.

So, I guess my short answer is, don't worry about her "not sticking" with an activity. Eventually she'll either find something she really wants to keep doing, or else she'll be a little more rounded person because she's tried a wide variety of activities.

I think you are right on the money letting her try different things and making her stick it out for the session or year. My kids all started dance/swim/ gymnastics and girl scouts at young ages and between the four they have all found something they love. One thing I noticed is that your daughter has not tried any sports. How about soccer and softball or teebal? My girls love soccer and softball and have played for years starting at ages 4 and 5. My oldest is nine. There is a ton of fun stuff for her to try, cheerleading,swim,sports,art classes. She will eventually find something she digs :)

Jennifer is a discussion leader for arizonamoms.com and mommy to four beautiful girls who range from 9 to 4 years of age.

I did a lot in high school because I was never given the opportunity to do it when I was younger. I tried everything I could, but sometimes too much is too much. I see that you are letting her try stuff one at a time which is an excellent idea, but even if she doesn't want to do it I'm glad you are making her stick it out for a good while. Are you the one putting her into these things or are you asking what she maybe wants to try? I did dance for years and loved it. Did you have her in a diverse dancing group? Or was it one type only?

I liked ballet, it really worked my muscles, and is the base for every dance out there, but I also didn't like it because it wasn't free expression. So I got into modern, and LOVED IT. I would ask her more questions to see what she did like and didn't like about all of the things that she was doing. If she is more sports oriented maybe try a different sport. She'll find her knack. :-)

Lisa - Mom to her spunky little Scarlette

I agree. I'd keep letting her try something new each year/semester and see if she finds something she enjoys. I'm sure it's out there--it might just take a little time. I'm glad you keep her in things until they are done. That's important to learn how to follow through.

Brooke Romney is an unbalanced mom of three young boys who constantly has too much to do, and too little time. She writes the Mom Beat column for The Gilbert Republic.

My parents had me in various activities as a kid - piano, sports, girl scounts, etc - and nothing ever really stuck. But I enjoyed it all in the moment.
As long as she's having fun at the time, I wouldn't focus on the future.

Susie is a discussion leader in the east valley for arizonamoms.com. She has two sons, ages 6 and 2.

Our older two children seemed to settle into the things they wanted to focus on when they were around 9 or 10 years old. Interestingly enough, when they started to narrow down their likes and dislikes and decided that tennis and basketball were what they wanted to focus on my youngest child did the same. He did not start out trying as many things as they did, but he enjoys the activities maybe even more than the two that tried numerous other things first.
I think one of the biggest keys for my children sticking with activities has been to find the right mentor or coach. I actually went and observed different coaches and how they interacted with kids before signing them up for programs and it made all the difference. Those are the sports they ended up sticking with.