Cute Toddler on the Loose or Parenting Fail? (VIDEO)
The video below is making the rounds lately.
It’s of a young girl dancing at a recital who is clearly talented and very well-rehearsed. But the budding ballerina is not the main focus; it’s the toddler dressed as a fox who sneaks on stage and tries to emulate the older girl who steals the show.
In fact, the toddler is so enthralled with copying the little girl’s performance, she stays on stage for the entirety of the piece. To the young ballerina’s credit, she doesn’t break performance once and appears not to be distracted whatsoever. The audience never even lets out a snicker. And nobody tries to grab the little fox off the stage.
My first reaction to the video was, “Oh my god! That’s adorable!” But then I started thinking about it a little more.
Where were the fox’s parents? What if the little girl had been my daughter? Would I have been content to sit back and watch the shenanigans play out from my seat or would I be really embarrassed my toddler was ruining the performance and take her off the stage the second she made her first appearance?
My answer is definitely the latter. I’ve been in situations where my two-year-old is disruptive (like the time I tried to take her to her first movie and she started screaming at the screen) and I have always made it my business to try to get her to stay still or be quiet. If that doesn’t work, I remove her from the situation.
But then again, nobody seemed really bothered by the fox and the dancer still performed her piece to perfection. Plus, someone got a hilariously memorable moment of their daughter caught on video. And maybe the parent was afraid it would be even more disruptive to take their child off the stage because she would have put up a fight.
Maybe it’s me who has to relax and roll with it.
What would you have done if the fox was your little girl?
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tf5odXfsN34[/youtube]
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I have to say I had the same reaction – first I thought it was adorable but then I immediately went to “Where are her parents?” I do agree that it is funny in retrospect, and I would love to see the little fox’s reaction when she is older, but I can’t help but think of the poor girl who was supposed to have the limelight. I don’t think allowing the toddler to continue for as long as she did was fair to the older dancer. What if that was your daughter who had worked so hard for everyone to see her routine? I don’t think it was very fair to her (and she handled it extremely well and should be praised for that).
I, for one, would have stopped my toddler because the older dancer deserved her time on the stage – alone.
The “fox” was my little sister about 25 years ago at another siblings Holiday concert. My then 3 year old sister ran down the auditorium aisle and stood right in front of the entire chorus- very still but mouthing the words as she knew them. My mother, after whispering to her to come back, ended up leaving her there because if she had gotten up she thought my sister would have had a tantrum and caused even more disruption. Still discussed to this day at family dinners and the sister who was actually in the performance is still bitter about it.
Per Heather above: yeah, my thought was also that perhaps, due to seating arrangements, etc., the mother of the fox decided it was actually less disruptive to leave her there?
Or perhaps she had the fox’s younger sibling in her arms and couldn’t be sure she could reliably grab the fox without a tantrum and/or chase scene. Since the actual performer was doing admirably, she decided to leave not-so-terrible situation alone?
Since I have #2 coming at the time the Guajolotita #1 will be 2 yrs old, I will try to plan to NOT be stuck in that situation!
http://guajolotitos.blogspot.com
I am with you Ilana!! This video actually makes me mad. Where were the toddler’s parents?! If it had been my child I would have been mortified. In the same vein, if I had been the older girl’s parents I would have been pretty ticked off!
In the event that my kid had actually gotten all the way to the stage (unlikely, as one of us would have tackled him), I would have snatched him off as quickly as he got up there. If a hissy fit ensued I would proceed to throw him over my shoulder or tuck him under my arm and hightail it to the exit. I say this with some certainty because I’ve done it.
http://www.deathmetalmommy.blogspot.com