Hello friends! Recording this one from a Caribou parking lot ☕ (medium dark hot chocolate, shot of mint — a warm milkshake masquerading as a beverage), because I just dropped Atticus off for the last half-day of freshman year and I’m feeling all the feelings. 🎭
The setup:
🚗 On the ride to school we got to talking about how fast the year flew, and how he can’t wait to be a senior and launch into adult life — cue me doing the classic dad bit: “Don’t hurry it away! Enjoy the no-mortgage, no-car-payment years!”
🤔 Meanwhile his brain is already living in the fall - “Which teachers are coming back? How will we move on without our seniors? Will we recruit any awesome freshmen?”
🗓️ First things first, though: a stacked summer (more on that below)
The gripe of the week:
💃 Around here, most studios cluster their fall auditions into the same two-week window — smart, because kids can try out a bunch of places, weigh their options, and then pick one
⏰ But ONE organization runs their auditions way early, then hands you a tight “commit or quit” deadline
🧐 Business-hat me (I run a cybersecurity company) totally sees the play — it’s a stickiness move (even if it’s icky IMHO)
👧 Parent me thinks it’s kinda slimy when we’re talking about little tots to teenagers. When a studio is also your kid’s core social circle, the “decision” basically gets made for you: stay put, or risk not landing anywhere for the season
📝 I’m not saying run for the hills — just file this in the “con” column as a data point if you’re studio-shopping this fall
What’s next:
🩰 Three weeks in Phoenix at Master Ballet Academy
🏛️ Then off to Massachusetts for a week at CLI Conservatory
🎙️ Plus twice-a-week training with his consultant all summer long
👉 Visit dadofadancer.com to drop me a DM or comment — and catch Dad of a Dancer on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and anywhere you find podcasts. Have a wonderful week!
