Gymnastics

Kaitlyn loved ballet last year, but also told me she wanted to try gymnastics.  And karate, so "I can stop the monsters from coming into my room." And perhaps soccer.  Since she is 4, we are currently limiting her to one thing per year, and this became gymnastics year.

I hadn't really decided where to go, so I asked my neighbor whose daughter is really into tumbling and gymnastics.  And she directed me to a local lady who teaches out of her basement.  Now, it is fairly common to have small "mommy" businesses out of a home around here.  I tutor math in my dining room, I know people who have photography studios or dance studios in their basement.  But . . . a gym?

Sure enough.  Her husband works in construction, so when they built the house, she asked for a basement with 12 foot ceilings.  Nothing fancy, but a serious gymnastics little spot.

When I called her up, though, she said that she normally doesn't start girls until they are 5 years old.  It turns out that I was picturing a fun little kiddie class where kids learn to bounce around and little tricks, but she teaches actual, true gymnastics.  But she told me to just bring her in and see how she did.  She had a class that was for beginners that couldn't do a cartwheel.  So I prepped Kaitlyn that this was a "big girl" class and that she could let me know if it was too tough.

I didn't realize just how big the girls would be, though.

(Sorry about the bad pictures again- I didn't want to scare the girls by breaking out the big serious camera! Blend in . . .)

Three of the girls are sisters, so there is an age range there.  But there are two 10 year-olds in this class. And my teeny little stick of a girl.

And I have to say, it is HARD for her.  Last year's ballet class was a half an hour long, and had fun stories about princesses and baking a cake to make it interesting.  This is an hour long, and there are no silly breaks.  For her, this is "try this tricky and hard thing.  And now this one.  And another one."  I think she has had a mild meltdown almost every day.  But there is determination in that face.  And she is so proud of herself when she does get something!  She is actually better at the stretching than most of the girls, thanks to ballet and young limbs.  And the teacher is constantly impressed that she can listen, figure out what she is being asked to do, and give it a good try.  She says that most 4 year-olds just can't handle it, but bit by bit Kaitlyn is improving.  So I figure that a tough class like this is actually great for her - time to learn persistence and hard work!

And we'll see.  I keep thinking that she won't last, but I figure that we'll stick with it as long as we can.  As long as she is still happy to practice during the week, then I know she isn't hating it.  In the meantime, there are a lot of smiling moments.  Trampoline time is always fun!