Bulgaria Ski discussion board

Yes this discussion is getting interesting...but first of all wanted to say, well done to Angus- and Jez, I really liked the way that you asked Angus to turn around and look back when he stopped so he could see what he accomplished-that's so important in skiing and in life -good parents make opportunities to be able to point this out to their children- what a great lesson for your son !!

Putting my 2 cents in re the takings kids out of school debate...I always took my daughter out of school early for the summer holidays- one time we went away at the end of June and did not return for the term!! I did have reasons for this as my relatives live in America and they finish school in June, so often we needed to fit in with them. There did come a time when she was older, I think it was the year before she started her GCSEs, when she told me she felt she didn't want to miss any school because the work load was increasing and she said she would go to America, but only at the end of the school year.

I never took her away in the winter for skiing as I didn't dare have her take any more time off and I felt it was just too pricey in the school holidays. She says (jokingly) that she still hasn't forgiven me for this, hence I am taking her skiing in Borovets for her first skiing trip at the age of 25!!

I think it all depends on the specific child and the parent- and to some extent the schooI should respect that a "reasonable" parent would not act in a way to "harm" their child- I agree there could be issues if the child is not progressing, has poor attendance throughout the year and/or pulls regular "sickies", etc and the parents fail to address this. Personally I think regularly allowing your child to miss the odd day here and there for no good reason could be seen as irresonsible and worse than taking time off for a specific reason. But maybe, even after all these years, I am trying to rationalise my own (irresponsible?) behaviour!

BTW did I mention my daughter qualified as a doctor in August??

C

What a fab piece of father/son bonding-I took my 5year old grandson (with an instructor)down the Yastrabets3 a few years ago-he too is not brilliant at team sports and rarely gets picked for teams etc. but has just returned from a school trip in Killington and his street cred was established as he was in the top group for sking (thanks to his ancient Granny who still takes him sking at 13) I am sure at his age a week out of school for him is going to be beneficial and he will go on to enjoy a really socialable sport that also gives the adrenalin kicks. It does get more difficult when the kids are nearing their important exams.As my 2 grandchildren are reaching towards this part I look at the week before Christmas which tends to be a more reasonable price-then sometimes I sneak an extra week as well later-I am bringing 11 year old grand daughter on 10th Feb (1 day out of school) to get our 'fix' of Borevets-staying at the Alpin if anyone else on forum is there for that week look forward to saying Hi.