Gymnastics

[Lailey is the one in purple shorts] Disclaimer: This video is edited to show the parts that she actually did what she was supposed to! Don't be fooled: there was much more goofing off than shown here. Haha!

I can't even begin to tell you how excited I was when I took Lailey to her first trial gymnastics class! I've been waiting for this day for a long time. I took gymnastics as a kid, and though I was never great at it, I had so much fun. Walking into the gym, smelling the chalk, sitting with everyone on the bleachers waiting for her class to start, I think I was more excited than she was! Anyway, I sent my little 3-year-old off with 3 other little girls and their coach. Let the games begin...

Lailey, exuberant and energetic, started well. She eagerly went with the coach, sat on the floor to warm up, tried to do what was asked of her, but then she started to get mischievous.  She wouldn't stay in line, didn't quite get the whole "following directions" concept, and ran off no less than 5 times!!!  As in, just took off across the gym because apparently something else looked more interesting than waiting her turn to do a somersault or whatever it was she was supposed to do.  I'm pretty sure every parent watching knew her name by the end of the class, since the coach had to call her a hundred times. Oh, it was hilarious. It was all I could do to stifle my laughter! She is 3 after all, and this was her first time in a structured activity like gymnastics. At one point, I thought "Hopefully the hour will be over soon and the poor coach can stop chasing my kid!" I looked at the clock. Only twenty minutes had passed! Yikes.

The coach was fantastic. Very (very) patient, kept a great pace, very structured, lots of actual gymnastics skills and not just play time. However, when the hour was over and she walked Lailey back to me, I was expecting to hear that she wasn't ready for the 3-year-old class, and the 2-year-old class (more play, less structure) would be a better fit.  What's this? She did a "great job"? She'll "get used to everything"? This class would be "great for her"? Pardon me, are we talking about the same kid, here? Well, I guess we are. Sign us up!

Now this may sound like I am not proud of Lailey, which is untrue. I'm very proud of her.  Judged on her willingness to try things, her fearlessness, and her physical abilities, she was spot on. I guess the coach can see her potential, which is awesome. I just want her to have fun being active. A little following directions would be nice too.

Tomorrow is her first real class. Before I signed her up, we talked about what was going to be required of her and things she needed to do better. Twice this week, while mentioning gymnastics, she independently said, "Mommy, I'm going to stay with my coach." So our talk made some impact. We'll see how it goes tomorrow!