How would you feel & react if your son/daughter was in a music competition & forgot the words??

Question

Today my daughter took part in a music competition and I thought she totally rocked! Only about a handful of the kids there, including herself, actually knew the lyrics of their songs from beginning to end. Well, one boy in particular...I think is in 3rd grade...he sang a solo on Supercali. and was doing well. He forgot some words, but kept going. Afterwards his dad put him down and made him cry for not knowing the words. An older lady went to the boy & told him he did great, but his dad wouldn't stop. I told the dad we can not expect perfection from our children, but he doesn't seem to get it.

So how would you react if your child forgot the words, either out of fear or lack of preparation?

Answer 1

That dad is a bast***, and doesn't deserve to have kids! I would feel bad for my child, but I would not put them down. Even if they know the song perfectly, a lot of them suffer from stage fright. I would work with them next time and try to help them be more comfortable in front of a crowd, and tell them no matter what, that even getting up and trying is better than not trying at all.

Answer 2

I would say "oh honey you did great it's no big deal you forgot a little bit" that is horrible that his dad did that!

Answer 3

My children know i am there for them all the time and i will back them up with anything.. if it were my kids i would give them a pat on the back and tell them there is always next time :)

Answer 4

Firstly let me congratulate your daughter for remembering her lyrics, its pleasing to hear that her proud mother thinks that she totally rocks, as it should be.

This little third grader in my opinion more than totally rocks, what courage he has shown by proceeding on with his song.

If this child's father thinks only about Perfection he should look into a mirror and take a look at the lack of his own perfection, embarrassing his son and reducing him to tears like that making him feel stupid and what ever else the little boy may have been feeling is far from perfect.

Answer 5

if anything i would be more nervous than anything. Its most important to be supportive. Even if the case may be they should have practices or rehearsed more that gives no merit to get yelled at. At least he actually went to the competition to compete and or actually got there.

I would be proud either way mostly because i know that they were having a great time and were enjoying themselves. Why would i want to ruin that?

Answer 6

I would say you did a fantastic job and I am proud of you.

That Dad is a loser and does not deserve kids.

Answer 7

Poor kid. I would give them a hug and tell them it was okay. At that age I would guess the issue was nerves and that would make me feel even worse for them.

Answer 8

Here is what my husband and I did a couple of weeks ago: Our 10 year old daughter forgot almost an entire stanza of a song she knew well and had practiced over and over. She placed 1st in the competition (her age group 9 & 10 year olds) last year. She received a participation ribbon this year. What I was proudest about was when she realized she had forgotten the words, she just kept going, she knew the song well enough to sort of add lib it in time with the cd (one with  music but no words). Unless you knew the entire song word for word, you couldn't tell she messed up except she sort of froze for a second. Bless her heart. When she came off the stage, she came over to us and we hugged her, told her we were so proud and she started crying. We told her she sounded great and the composure she showed when she realized she had missed some words was fabulous. By the time the competition was over, she was already planning on what to sing next year. Stuff happens. She just blanked out. She's a kid ~ our reaction was just natural, we didn't even think about it ~ comfort and praise her.

Answer 9

Proud of the effort....

I don't think it is always possible to Judge the reaction of other parents.... I would have agreed with you in the past but my 3rd child has shown me a whole new respect for parents whom appear to be hostile.... She has actually Intentionally Flubbed up things like this for "negative-attention" and I never would have imagined this as a child tactic....

Now when I see parents who appear to be over reacting I try to do the wink and nod... Wow--seems like that was a show of a whole special kind.... now and then I actually run into another parent who is dealing with a kid like mine...

When I have seen that a child did their best and parents were too harsh on the child--I have been one of those people to make a comment to the child about How Great their effort was.... or that being on stage is so nerverwracking....

Answer 10

id tell her/him not to trip its not the end of the world. id give my kid a big hug and kiss. me i would low-key be laughing in the audience probably.

Answer 11

Everyone has moments like that, even professionals.  The dad is way too tied up in himself,  He's probably the dad who screams at the officials or coaches during little league games.  There is no surer way to make a child hate something that to do what that father did.

Answer 12

everybody makes mistakes sometimes, nobody's perfect. if anything goes wrong, figure something else. so just don't stay down!