One girl’s latest obsession is the Olympics – and her parents want to gently break it that she’ll never make it there. 

The parent told Parenting on Moncrieff their 12-year-old daughter constantly jumps between hobbies. 

“There is one downside in that she never sees them through,” they said. 

“We've spent endless amounts of money on lessons for multiple musical instruments, horse riding, Taekwondo. 

“Her latest obsession is diving, inspired of course by the Olympics – she is adamant she is going to compete one day.” 

The parent wants to give their daughter a gentle “reality check”. 

“This is just another phase she’ll soon move on from,” they said. 

“I don’t want to crush her dreams - but as far as I'm aware there is no diving facility in Ireland anyway.” 

Shamrock Diving Club, based in the National Aquatic Centre in Blanchardstown, Co Dublin, offers competitive diving training and facilitates an athlete's registration to Swim Ireland.

Olympic diver Ciara McGing trained with Shamrock Diving Club.

Olympics ambition

Family psychotherapist Joanna Fortune said the daughter sounds “wonderfully passionate” - but this can cause issues sometimes. 

“I’m wondering if the passion is more mastery-orientated,” she said. 

“She doesn’t just want to take up diving - she wants to be Olympic-standard diving. 

“Mastering the activity is appealing to her rather than it being a joy of the activity.” 

This is “completely normal” for a lot of 12-year-olds – but “expensive” for parents. 

Find a passion

Joanna pointed out there is “no real connection” between the daughter’s various hobbies, so it’s hard to know what she is truly passionate about. 

She suggested the parents ask their daughter to list all of her previous hobbies and “rate” how much she enjoyed them. 

“Get her to talk through what she was interested in, what she imagined it would be like versus the reality of it,” she said. 

“Suggest that she return to her preferred one. 

“Gently remind her that people get to the Olympics because people stick with something and spend very many hours sticking to it.” 

Joanna said that the daughter’s “passion” - and seeming love of stardom - suggests drama might be the ideal hobby. 

“There's something about the performance and accolade that could really tap into that,” she said. 

She also suggested the parents allow their daughter to choose one or two hobbies that she has to commit to for the term that they’ve paid for lessons.