Is it normal for 12 year old girls to change sports or interests?

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butterflyflgrl

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Daughter has been in classical ballet training for 9 years by her choice. Always has been very determined that she would become professional dancer. Has just decided that she wants to change interests, lost her desire to dance altogether. Always been at the top of class, challenged just enough, went on pointe this year -- loved it, great teachers, great friends in class. Now wants to try horseback riding lessons and stop dancing totally. Is this common? I'm ok with it -- but need feedback...
 
I teach at a middle school, and 12-year-old girls change interests at the drop of a hat. However, after dedicating so much of her life to dance, it is odd for her to want to drop it all together. I could see her maybe wanting to add horseback riding and cut back a bit on dance, but to no longer do it at all seems fishy. You might want to speak with her teacher(s) and see if they have noticed anything unusual lately. Perhaps someone or a group of kids are teasing her for being in ballet. It's worth your time to at least check at school before throwing away 9 years of training.
 
Kids have short attention spans. It could very well be that she just wants to try something new, especially after doing something for so long.
 
i have been dancing for about 11 years and i was Obsessed for the longest time. I would revolve most things around dance. Crafts at school everything. i would make lists of stuff to fix, the whole deal. and then my love of it just stopped. I think it was because i loved it so much that then i just got tired of it. I wanted to do motocross, badly. and my mom wouldnt let me so after a few months the spark was rekindled not as strong as before but still there. im glad i stuck with it.
 
Of course it is!!!!!!
I'm still a teen, so I can remember what it was like to suddenly change interests. When I was little it was all about dance, but now I live for swimming and baseball, completely different things.

Everyone needs a break once in a while, maybe thats all she wants. She might want to just try something out, meet new people, take a risk.

Its all super common for 12 year-olds, and teens. :)
 
This is very common! I am around that age and when girls are 12-14, we're trying to figure out who we are and what we want to do with our lives. Even though your daughter has been determined to be a professional dancer for nine years, she was pretty young during that time. Typically, girls that do ballet decide at this age that their lives are committed to dance - or they decide that it isn't really their thing anymore.
 
It is completely normal for her to want to try something new. Just make sure that she really knows that she wants to do something different before she makes a permanent change. Sometimes teenagers/preteens can make choices hastily, but if she really wants it, let her try before quitting dance altogether, then she can make a choice.
 
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