Posts Categorized: Parents

Hearing this just really really bugged me…

Posted by What The Feis & filed under Parents, Schools.

medium_mompicAfter a recent feis, a friend of mine sent me a message on Facebook that kinda, sorta, really really irritated me.  I like ‘smack-talk’ just as much as the next guy, but I think this goes beyond way good-hearted ribbing, especially from someone who teaches our children.

I really debated as to whether to post this or not, but it irritated me so much that this attitude is out there, I decided to post it hoping the people involved might see this and catch the hint. The message from my friend is posted below with any identifiable information about the teachers and my friend removed. There is a bit of language, sorry, quoting verbatim. read more

eat, play, whine™

Posted by What The Feis & filed under Humor, Ideas, Parents.

After the immense popularity of eat, pay, drive, and at the request of many (well 2) followers, I have created the non-dance sibling version of the idea. Did I get it right?  ;)

art-epw-IDSiblings-Circle

Eat, play, whine is a trademark of What The Feis and is subject to copyright laws.

eat, pay, drive™

Posted by What The Feis & filed under Humor, Ideas, Parents.

A t-shirt idea, based on a book I never plan on writing, that I posted about on Facebook. Would you buy one?   ;)

art-epd-fd

Eat, pay, drive is a trademark of What The Feis and is subject to copyright laws.

Explaining the Hair

Posted by What The Feis & filed under Humor, Parents.

I am sure you have all been ‘there.’ Maybe it was on the way to a feis when you stopped for a bite to eat, or had to stop at the store for a last minute item on the way, or walking into an airport bar, yes that happened, but I digress. The stares, the awkward smiles, the hushed tones, but you know what they are all thinking and saying, ‘what is with that hair?’

Happened to us again this weekend, when TGC and I stopped at a Starbucks in Memphis on the way to the Memphis Feis. The conversation went almost exactly like this: read more

A Parents Guide to Understanding Feis Judging

Posted by What The Feis & filed under Antonio Pacelli, Parents.

dana-carvey-snlI am going to be honest, I don’t understand feis judging, at least not completely, so maybe the title is not quite right. Maybe this should be called ‘A Parents Guide to Helping Their Dancer Understand Why.’ Read the entire article over on Antonio Pacelli and let me know what you think.

If the link above does not work, you can copy and paste this into your browser’s address bar: https://www.antoniopacelli.com/community/article/a-parents-guide-to-understanding-feis-judging read more

The Top 10 Responsibilities of Being an Irish Dance Parent

Posted by What The Feis & filed under Antonio Pacelli, Parents.

My first ‘real’ post out on Antonio Pacelli on the subject of being an Irish dance parent is what I call ‘The Top 10 Responsibilities of Being an Irish Dance Parent’ which you can find in its entirety at https://www.antoniopacelli.com/community/article/the-top-10-responsibilities-of-being-an-irish-dance-parent.

If you have a minute, give it a read. I would love to hear your thoughts! Thanks.

Life Lessons From Irish Dance

Posted by What The Feis & filed under Life Lessons, Parents.

If your dancer is like mine, and you have been doing this for a while, there are some adjudicators they want at the table while they dance, and some, well, not so much. So when TGC (that is ‘the girl child’ for you new readers) saw the ‘cool judge’ sitting at the table to judge her Hornpipe, she was thrilled. And if you follow me on Facebook, you may already know that TGC got a first in that dance, which coincidentally, was the last first she needed to be advanced to PC, so lets just say she was a little happy about it. read more

F.E.I.S. Recommendations

Posted by What The Feis & filed under ID Trending, Parents, Safety.

This F.E.I.S. (First Everyone Is Safe) Recommendations list is the consolidation of thoughts from a few other posts. If you are new, this is the third in a series of posts regarding feiseanna safety. You can see Part 1 and Part 2 to get caught up if you need to.

Based on input from you, and some of my own observations, this is a concise list on what contributors think can help make the feiseanna environment  safer:

  • No dancer name/school lists posted in the ‘clear’ on any website – access can be granted to teachers and parents with the appropriate login credentials.
  • Posted results use numbers only to keep dancer/school anonymity in the feis environment.
  • While at a feis, use of the buddy system for all dancers, whether it is dancer/dancer or dancer/parent buddies.
  • Appropriate dresscode before, between and after all dances. ‘Appropriate’ can be determined by governing bodies.
  • Age appropriate makeup – IMHO, none of the girls are old enough to wear the makeup typically seen at feiseanna.
  • Visual identification for parents, other family members and friends, obtained at registration or upon paid entry. Registration would have more control to prove ‘association’ with a dancer. Recommendations have been wristbands and brightly colored stickers.
  • Presence of feis security – even a few school dads with ‘SECURITY’ or possible ‘SAFETY’ t shirts wandering the venue would help.
  • Safety signage that shows the feis is paying attention to safety. Examples might include:  ‘report incidents’, ‘be observant’, ‘no videography’ etc…
  • Observation – everyone needs to be observant and proactive.
  • Enforcement of the standards issued by the governing bodies, and common sense. This is top-down from the dance organizations, to schools, to competitions, to parents and the dancers themselves.

So, what do you think? Any obvious omissions? Again, please keep comments brief if possible. read more