Tiny tots, big drama!
So, the first day of dance class was… kind of a disaster!
We received no emails or other forms of communication from the time we signed up until the first class, which is poor customer service in my opinion. A friendly reminder of when classes begin and a welcome message to the new dancers would have been nice; friendly. And, their website is under construction (and has been for months) so there was nothing to see there either.
I couldn’t remember if classes began at 9am or if I had told myself to get there early for a 9:15am class. I looked on Google and saw that the school opened at 8am so I decided to arrive for 8:45am just to be on the safe side. At worst, if we were super early, we would just check out the place. I raced from the car in -24C weather, with a toddler in my arms and both of us wearing leggings (good call mom), to a locked door... fantastic! I saw a doorbell so I took my chances and the owner came to open it. I felt slightly barked at for ringing, so I reminded her that we were new to the school and assured her that we would know better for next time!
A nice way to start the day!
The LO was in a fantastic mood, running circles around the dressing room with her curly pigtails and a smile from ear to ear. I even managed to get her new athletic shoes on that I had been trying to get her into like for 2 whole days! They are made for gymnastics, very light and flexible but they have a rubber sole so you stick to the polished floor. I was feeling kind of proud of myself… until 5 minutes later the owner tell us she can’t wear the shoes in class “as she won’t be able to point her toes”.
Really? She is 2!!! She is here to have fun, not train to be a prima ballerina! Fine, back to socks and into class then.
The class itself is a great concept, teaching kids aged 18-36 months how to work as a team; follow the leader, take your turn, run obstacle courses and such. But, it really wasn’t happening for us. In fact, the LO spent the first part with her face buried into my neck, sobbing.
I guess I should update you on her ears since we quickly realized this was part of the problem.
She had her hearing test earlier this month and we found out that one of her tubes had already fallen out. We knew it was in place when we saw her pediatrician late November, so it was likely when she had a bad cough in early December that it was pushed out. This has caused her right ear to fill with fluid and, as such, her hearing is wonky again. I believe I saw 100% on her left and 41% on the right! We are working with her ENT on what our options are, primarily watching for her speech to continue improving, but no surgery or replacement tubes are in discussion yet. We are hoping to make it through Winter without any issues and then Spring/Summer should be clear. Fingers crossed!
So, after realizing that the volume of the music may be part of the issue as it was really loud, we left the room to find some peace and quiet. The owner saw me, again, and I explained what was going on. She told one of the girls to go turn the music down but stressed that it can take a few classes before the child feels comfortable to participate. I agree, but generally not MY child. We returned to class and turning down the music did help her, but the damage was done for the day and she was stuck to me to closer than my own shadow right until the end; even when she received her participation sticker, which the then proceeded to lose up her sleeve and meltdown.
So, we will try again next week and hopefully have more success! I will remind them to keep the volume down, I will dress the LO and myself a little warmer as the classroom is quite cold as well, and I will leave her in socks from the get go… or defiantly put the athletic shoes on her feet! After all, since it is my 245$ shouldn’t I be allowed to decide if I want to ruin all of her potential to star in The Nutcracker?
We received no emails or other forms of communication from the time we signed up until the first class, which is poor customer service in my opinion. A friendly reminder of when classes begin and a welcome message to the new dancers would have been nice; friendly. And, their website is under construction (and has been for months) so there was nothing to see there either.
I couldn’t remember if classes began at 9am or if I had told myself to get there early for a 9:15am class. I looked on Google and saw that the school opened at 8am so I decided to arrive for 8:45am just to be on the safe side. At worst, if we were super early, we would just check out the place. I raced from the car in -24C weather, with a toddler in my arms and both of us wearing leggings (good call mom), to a locked door... fantastic! I saw a doorbell so I took my chances and the owner came to open it. I felt slightly barked at for ringing, so I reminded her that we were new to the school and assured her that we would know better for next time!
A nice way to start the day!
The LO was in a fantastic mood, running circles around the dressing room with her curly pigtails and a smile from ear to ear. I even managed to get her new athletic shoes on that I had been trying to get her into like for 2 whole days! They are made for gymnastics, very light and flexible but they have a rubber sole so you stick to the polished floor. I was feeling kind of proud of myself… until 5 minutes later the owner tell us she can’t wear the shoes in class “as she won’t be able to point her toes”.
Really? She is 2!!! She is here to have fun, not train to be a prima ballerina! Fine, back to socks and into class then.
The class itself is a great concept, teaching kids aged 18-36 months how to work as a team; follow the leader, take your turn, run obstacle courses and such. But, it really wasn’t happening for us. In fact, the LO spent the first part with her face buried into my neck, sobbing.
I guess I should update you on her ears since we quickly realized this was part of the problem.
She had her hearing test earlier this month and we found out that one of her tubes had already fallen out. We knew it was in place when we saw her pediatrician late November, so it was likely when she had a bad cough in early December that it was pushed out. This has caused her right ear to fill with fluid and, as such, her hearing is wonky again. I believe I saw 100% on her left and 41% on the right! We are working with her ENT on what our options are, primarily watching for her speech to continue improving, but no surgery or replacement tubes are in discussion yet. We are hoping to make it through Winter without any issues and then Spring/Summer should be clear. Fingers crossed!
So, after realizing that the volume of the music may be part of the issue as it was really loud, we left the room to find some peace and quiet. The owner saw me, again, and I explained what was going on. She told one of the girls to go turn the music down but stressed that it can take a few classes before the child feels comfortable to participate. I agree, but generally not MY child. We returned to class and turning down the music did help her, but the damage was done for the day and she was stuck to me to closer than my own shadow right until the end; even when she received her participation sticker, which the then proceeded to lose up her sleeve and meltdown.
So, we will try again next week and hopefully have more success! I will remind them to keep the volume down, I will dress the LO and myself a little warmer as the classroom is quite cold as well, and I will leave her in socks from the get go… or defiantly put the athletic shoes on her feet! After all, since it is my 245$ shouldn’t I be allowed to decide if I want to ruin all of her potential to star in The Nutcracker?
Comments
Post a Comment