[Shany Littman | HAARETZ]

Like many parents, I too hoped to realize vicariously through my daughters all the things I didn’t get around to doing in childhood, or that narrow-mindedness had kept me from taking up. The aspirations were quite banal. I thought, for example, that my kids would become virtuoso pianists or have careers as ballet dancers or soccer players. But, as we know, it’s all a matter of role models. Maybe I should have taken them to more recitals, dance performances or soccer games. Instead, I let them watch television. They became addicted to reality dance-competition shows.

So it was that some months ago, Zohar, then 8 and a half, trained her big, determined eyes on me and demanded: Find me an after-school group in pole dancing.

I told her I didn’t think there were any programs like that for kids. She didn’t understand why. I decided it would be too hard to explain to her at her age, and tried to change the subject. I stuck to that approach for about a week, during which each day would begin and end with her asking how the search for a children’s pole-dancing group was going. She’s a stubborn girl.