Hi. I've been assistanting a creative movement class for about 3 years and i've never had any problems with parents until now. and i'm 16 in case that matters to anyone.
During our recital i was in charge of my class in the dressing room while they were waiting in between dances. Somehow 2 of the girls tutus got mixed up without me noticing. Albeit that all the tutus are the same size and i had 16 girls to look after.
A parents came up to me after dress rehersal and started yelling at me that i wasnt repsonsible enough to handle these kids b/c her daughter has the wrong tutu. She was all out yelling at me and i didnt know what to do so i just told her that i would look into it. When she left i started to cry b/c i was fusterated.
i told the director about the problem and she talked to the mom and explained to her that all the tutus are the same size and since she didnt put her daughters intials in it there was no way of knowing whos was whos. (i honestly dont even know how she thought that her daughter had the wrong one. apparently this one had wrinkles in it or something.)

anyways my question is what is your advice in case something like that happens again?

thanks!

*jessa

PATIENCE! You just have to let these things roll off your back and take it all with a grain of salt. I'm also about the same age as you as well. You can't please everyone. To each parent, their child is the most important thing on the face of this planet. PERIOD. And that is natural. But what they don't realize is that when you have 16 3 year olds (I had 19 this year) who don't have big attention spans and haven't been on stage before it's a whole different ball game. All you can really do is just calmy explain the situation, that all the tutus are the same, try to sort it out for her. Next time tell all the parents to write their names in the costumes so who's who's will be distinquishable.

Don't take it too personally though, things happen. This probaly isn't the last of angry parents you'll meet. Just roll with it. If this happens again and you aren't getting anywhere with being calm and trying to sort it out let your teacher/director know. They can handle it from there because you have 16 girls to watch out for as a whole. Little kids tend to wander if not watched and then you could have an even bigger mess on your hands of "where's my kid?". Don't cry though, it's not worth it.

~baila~

Hi bornforthestage1

I know how you feel especially when you are being yelled at and at no fault of yours. There are unreasonable people everywhere and that mother is just one of them. During our concerts, our teacher put a NO ENTRY sign to keep out of those nosy, trouble-creating parents. Your director is supportive so just forget about the unhappy incident. Cheer up!

I feel for you. There's nothing worse than an angry dance parent. I, as Studio Director, would certainly not look too kindly on any parent who would yell at a sixteen year old assistant. That is just not appropriate. I'm sure you handled yourself fine and don't worry that you cried afterwards - I'm 32 and still find myself in tears when a parent has been particularly "in my face."

Thank you everyone for your replies! They were very helpful!
At least i'm not the only one who gets upset with parents!

*jess

1st off I would like to say "you really handled the situation well by NOT yelling back at the parent and telling her you'll look into it" (their was no better way). Being a new situation for you, you handled it well; someone else in your shoes would have yelled back and wouldn't have took it so easily. Lesson learned all things are not peaches & cream, Their are some mean, pushy, uneasy to work with people out there and you just have to learn how to deal with all types people on different levels.

You did exactly the right thing. Always say "I will look into it" and never handle anything without thinking about it first. You did what I would want all of my teachers to do. Don't worry about these crazy parents, she probably wanted to be wearing that tutu herself. Especially at recital time, people act up and you can't please everyone. 16 kids is a lot for anyone to handle, you should have had some help with all these kids. Keep up the good work! You did fine!