Corlia Boshoff sits nervously in her chair, her left leg shakes, she bites her nails and takes long breaths as she stares nervously at the competitor on stage. Boshoff is not waiting her turn to compete; she is the parent of 10-year-old pianist Beate Boshoff.
Being the parent of a gifted child is not easy, says the anxious mother.
Corlia Boshoff sits nervously in her chair, her left leg shakes, she bites her nails and takes long breaths as she stares nervously at the competitor on stage. Boshoff is not waiting her turn to compete; she is the parent of 10-year-old pianist Beate Boshoff.
Being the parent of a gifted child is not easy, says the anxious mother.
“As parents, we are just as nervous as they are, sometimes even more so.”
Corlia Boshoff says that as parents of children who take part in music competitions, you have to be invested both emotionally and financially – costs per competition sometimes exceed R10 000.
Hannelize du Plessis, mother of junior round winner Annerike, says staying objective is the hard part.
“We parents want to believe that our children are better than all the other children, and if your child is competing you have to be objective and critical,” she says.
Another parent who smiled proudly as her daughter’s fingers swept the piano keys was Elisa du Toit. “My job in this competition is to ensure that she relaxes and maintains focus. A challenge for us parents of children who compete at a young age is that we have to ensure that they still have a well-rounded childhood.”
She says that as a parent you want to ensure that at the age of 13, a child still has time to play with her friends and does all the things that children her age do.
“It’s basically about time management.”
Du Plessis says that although the money that they put in does not always come back in coins, you see it in the boost in self-esteem, the improvement in technique and the way progressing in competitions builds their self-confidence.
