Hockey? Really?

I’ve been struggling with an aspect of being a parent lately—How do you tell if your child is really enjoying an activity?

I guess my question stems from soccer. Spring soccer has started again. Meredith is so hot and cold about it. She talks about her friends on the team, wants to play soccer in the backyard, but is sometimes hesitant to get out on the field at practice, and isn’t as into the games this year. Some days she says she likes it, some days she doesn’t.

She’s been doing ballet / dance class weekly since September. It’s a small group, a good, although somewhat strict teacher, great girls in the class, and I’ve enjoyed my time in the lobby with the other moms. The past two weeks she’s been refusing to go into the class without a struggle. So, we took this week off, but I can assure you the girl loves to dance.

She’s excited about playing tennis again this summer, asked for guitar and piano lessons, and now says she wants to be on the swim team, even though that means, you know, learning to swim and putting your face in the water. Then she tells Frank and me she doesn’t want to do soccer, she wants to play hockey. I’m not even sure she knows what that is!

How do you balance exposing her to activities she may like, but not overwhelm her? How do you teach her to stick with something and not give up? How do you push her to do her best and try her hardest, without being too pushy? How do you know if a 5 year old really knows what they want to do and what they don’t? How do I know what I am choosing for her is the best option?