Our after-school activities have been, for the first few weeks, something of a moving target. I have raced down to the ballet studio in the 6th arrondissement only to discover I was both half an hour late and also a full week too early. At least the trial run clued us in to the fact that it would be hard to get there in time, and the girls almost immediately lost the enthusiasm to try again. So, since I hadn't yet paid, we crossed that off the list.
We have gone down to two different gymnastics studios, and done 3 separate trial classes, in both regular and rhythmic. Given that the girls have so many interests, and the gymnastics studio is a subway ride away, we have come to the conclusion that the 3 times per week G is supposed to go is too many for our liking. We've been given special permission to do one day per week only, but France is not so big on special exceptions, so we'll see how long that lasts!
The activities that seem to have the most staying power are G's hip hop class, and the contemporary and Tahitian dance classes that both G & P are taking and loving.
And this week, we cross another activity off the list. We had initially been very excited about continuing the girls' soccer here in Paris. We had heard that French girls don't play soccer, so we tracked down a league of mostly expat girls that plays here in Paris. We went last week for the first time, and I will say this: the view can't be beat.
Unfortunately, the soccer program can. The field is full of boys playing up until 6pm, and playing at a very high level. It's like watching the World Cup out there. Then the field empties off, as sane people go home to get ready for dinner and bed. That's when the girls are given the field. Practice runs from 6:15-7:30pm (or, as they say here 18h15-19h30). And since it's a double-metro home, we can't walk in the door till after 8pm, which means late dinner and bed not before 9pm on a school night. The girls were truly shattered last Thursday and Friday, and this week is no better.
Soccer is year-round, even as it gets dark earlier (I am told the sun will set around 4pm in the winter...), and through rain and snow. While I applaud their dedication, I don't share it. And our girls are, shall we say, less than enthusiastic about playing in cold conditions. Anthony has accused me of being a fair-weather adventurer, to which I respond, "Well, duh." Call us crazy, but it's so much more fun to have fun when you're actually having fun, and not wishing you were indoors with a hot cup of tea.
Because there's just the one girls' team, it's comprised of about 12-20 girls (depending on the day) spanning the ages from 6-12 or so. This means that there are few children at any given level appropriate for G & P. Also, I am reminded of King Kalakaua of Hawaii who was very excited to be the first in his kingdom to have a telephone. Since that was pre-trans-Pacific-cables, it begged the question, "Who would he call?" Well, since there's only one girls' soccer team in Paris, there is nobody to play against.
But the ultimate kicker is that there is remarkably little kicking. The coaches seem to think that girls should learn soccer ever-so-differently (and more delicately) than boys. The first hour is spent doing warm ups: relay races, obstacle courses around cones, and -- most bizarrely -- large games of keep-away and passing where they run around the field throwing the ball to each other. They do not actually touch the ball with their feet until the last 15 minutes, when they put on colored jerseys, split up in teams, and play complete free-for-all games with no interference (otherwise known as "coaching") from the coaches.
And so, we give soccer the boot, and concentrate on our more "girly" activities, gymnastics and dance. However, once we get our shipment from SF, I do have my eye on some guitar lessons.... Parents who are tearing their hair out over overscheduled children and the insanity of running to after-school activities in the Bay Area, or New York, or anywhere else in the US, can take some small misery-loves-company comfort in knowing that it's just as much of an issue here in Paris, even for the French.
We have gone down to two different gymnastics studios, and done 3 separate trial classes, in both regular and rhythmic. Given that the girls have so many interests, and the gymnastics studio is a subway ride away, we have come to the conclusion that the 3 times per week G is supposed to go is too many for our liking. We've been given special permission to do one day per week only, but France is not so big on special exceptions, so we'll see how long that lasts!
The activities that seem to have the most staying power are G's hip hop class, and the contemporary and Tahitian dance classes that both G & P are taking and loving.
And this week, we cross another activity off the list. We had initially been very excited about continuing the girls' soccer here in Paris. We had heard that French girls don't play soccer, so we tracked down a league of mostly expat girls that plays here in Paris. We went last week for the first time, and I will say this: the view can't be beat.
Unfortunately, the soccer program can. The field is full of boys playing up until 6pm, and playing at a very high level. It's like watching the World Cup out there. Then the field empties off, as sane people go home to get ready for dinner and bed. That's when the girls are given the field. Practice runs from 6:15-7:30pm (or, as they say here 18h15-19h30). And since it's a double-metro home, we can't walk in the door till after 8pm, which means late dinner and bed not before 9pm on a school night. The girls were truly shattered last Thursday and Friday, and this week is no better.
Soccer is year-round, even as it gets dark earlier (I am told the sun will set around 4pm in the winter...), and through rain and snow. While I applaud their dedication, I don't share it. And our girls are, shall we say, less than enthusiastic about playing in cold conditions. Anthony has accused me of being a fair-weather adventurer, to which I respond, "Well, duh." Call us crazy, but it's so much more fun to have fun when you're actually having fun, and not wishing you were indoors with a hot cup of tea.
Because there's just the one girls' team, it's comprised of about 12-20 girls (depending on the day) spanning the ages from 6-12 or so. This means that there are few children at any given level appropriate for G & P. Also, I am reminded of King Kalakaua of Hawaii who was very excited to be the first in his kingdom to have a telephone. Since that was pre-trans-Pacific-cables, it begged the question, "Who would he call?" Well, since there's only one girls' soccer team in Paris, there is nobody to play against.
But the ultimate kicker is that there is remarkably little kicking. The coaches seem to think that girls should learn soccer ever-so-differently (and more delicately) than boys. The first hour is spent doing warm ups: relay races, obstacle courses around cones, and -- most bizarrely -- large games of keep-away and passing where they run around the field throwing the ball to each other. They do not actually touch the ball with their feet until the last 15 minutes, when they put on colored jerseys, split up in teams, and play complete free-for-all games with no interference (otherwise known as "coaching") from the coaches.
And so, we give soccer the boot, and concentrate on our more "girly" activities, gymnastics and dance. However, once we get our shipment from SF, I do have my eye on some guitar lessons.... Parents who are tearing their hair out over overscheduled children and the insanity of running to after-school activities in the Bay Area, or New York, or anywhere else in the US, can take some small misery-loves-company comfort in knowing that it's just as much of an issue here in Paris, even for the French.
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