Marian has been getting up at 6:45 to run before school most mornings of the week. She said she loves running and if I'm not planning to run, she bugs me till I go out with her. She's a funny girl!
The school offers after school clubs and this year, the organization "Girls on the Run" started a club. Marian really wanted to join this club. She talked about it and asked about it and I finally signed her up for it, knowing it was going to mess up my schedule. We have been doing MWF karate, but the Girls on the Run meets MW, so we'd have to shift that around. But Marian was really excited about this club. I figured it was worth a little sacrifice, since there is very little that excites her.
Marian does not like new things. She does not enjoy doing something for the first time and she gets very anxious about doing something she has never done. I was worried about her doing this club because it would be noisy and chaotic at the start up. I went to the school yesterday to make sure she got where she needed to be. She saw me in the hallway and waved me away with that "Stop embarrassing me!" look. So yeah, she was fine! She had a blast and loved the club. I was so thrilled that she found something she wanted to do badly enough to get out of her comfort zone, and I was so happy it went well for her.
Today I got an email about the club. Now, Girls on the Run is a national organization. Their official mission is "to inspire girls to be joyful, healthy and confident." My understanding was that this organization was to help girls, and especially lower income girls, to run. Imagine my astonishment, when I discovered that they want $200 for this privilege!
It is RUNNING! Running. Something you do right outside your front door. It requires expensive shoes to do it right, but other than that, there really is no cost to it. $200 for a running club?! How on earth does that make running accessible to all girls?!
I'm stinking mad that they want that kind of money for a running club. I'm even more mad that my daughter was so excited about doing this, and this could be a deal breaker. Could we come up with $200? Sure, you can always come up with money for something you feel strongly about. But that's the thing. It is running. Running. Not rocket science. Not something that requires lot of gear to purchase or travel or expenses. It just isn't worth it to me, and it kills me that my little girl was so excited about it and this stupid fee might mean she couldn't do it.
On the plus side, they say they can work with you on the fee, but no way will we pay even half that, so we will see.
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3 comments:
I guess they want it for lobbying or something. Sheesh. Down with national clubs that have an agenda besides actually helping the people who are participating. Maybe they give scholarships or something useful like that. Good luck. Don't think about paying for the club. Think about it as supporting Marian's passion. And give her less at Christmas. :)
I would definitely ask why they need that much and where the money is going. That is crazy.
I've thought about your problem all this morning. I would definitely be annoyed, but if this is something that won't change, then I would give Marian a choice of activities. Let her choose which she would like to do the most--karate or running club. You definitely would come out ahead if she chooses the running club and she learns a valuable lesson of choosing what is best for her and knowing you can't have everything.
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