IF WE CAN’T PAY FOR IT, GRANDDAD STEPS IN
Melissa Greatwood, 22, a criminology student, lives with Matthew root, 21, a junior accountant, and their children oliver, two and amy, five, in west london. Melissa says:
AMY is completely obsessed by everything ‘dance’. Acro- dancing — a mix of modern dance and acrobatics involving the splits and one-handed cartwheels — is her favourite.
She’s very competitive and has done well in her exams, which she performed in front of hundreds of people. She is determined to be a professional dancer.
She also does singing and acting classes with Stagecoach Performing Arts. She’s only five and it’s amazing watching her grow in confidence.
But it’s so expensive. By far the biggest expense is travel — four classes a week after school. It’s an hour-long round trip and costs £60 a week in petrol alone.
We do ten performances a year and spend £50 a month on hair products alone. We top up her make-up bag every three months, using Mac or Nars brands because we know those brands suit her.
Although we hire the costumes for performances, we buy all her training outfits. We have easily spent around £10,000 a year over the past three years but I’d dread to look at it in detail.
Matthew argues it’s a waste of money, but Amy is so dedicated and I don’t want to hold her back. Luckily, we haven’t had to sacrifice too much. Even though I’m a student, Matthew earns £35k a year and my dad is really supportive. If there’s anything financial we can’t provide for, he steps in, so we’re very lucky. He adores his grandchildren.
One thing that does concern me is what happens when Oliver, our son, wants to start a hobby. He’s not interested in anything just yet, but once he does, we may have to cut back on Amy’s classes simply to make the time to fit everything in.