First day of gymnastics

Maisie has been taking swimming lessons since she was tiny...we actually snuck her into the 3 yo class before she was 3. She swims most of the winter, then we take the summer off of lessons. It's the most inexpensive sport right now--the average class through the city rec center is only $6.

The girls have been asking about gymnastics, though. Of course, having competed for years myself I love the idea, but I think a part of me was concerned that one of my kids would get serious about it and I'd have to deal with what that meant. I loved gymnastics, don't get me wrong, but in the end I hated it because of the time commitment and the feeling that I'd never be "good enough."

I can look back at it now and realize I just never wanted to be "the best," I just wanted to have fun. So from that perspective, I think I'll be good for my girls.

The minute we got to the gym, the girls' eyes LIT UP. Even Dani, who can be really shy, went directly with the instructor and started on the ropes with the rest of the group. At one point, the instructor tried to help her kick up to a handstand and she was upset and started crying--I'm beginning to believe that perfectionism can be very genetically related. She thought she was doing something wrong (and none of the other kids were "helped") so she cried. D and I both spent a little time with her and I finally took her by the hand and led her to the new activity. I really didn't want her to miss out, she really wanted to participate. Once I got her going again, she was fine and participated with the class.

The facility is really nice and if the girls ever want to move on to intermediate gymnastics and eventually compete, they won't have to move to a new gym. The equipment seemed very well maintained and the girls loved the variety from the beam to the long trampoline. Both girls had a fabulous time and can't wait to go back.

We took a bunch of video and I'll try and get some clips up on our family site. In the meantime, here are a couple pictures (not good ones, of course, the lighting wasn't very good and my zoom is horrible).



Dani on the floor



Maisie and her friend stretching

In addition to gymnastics, we're going to try and get the girls in the Saturday morning swim class at the same time. I'm not ready to commit to another 2 day week for swimming in addition to gymnastics, but I think we can handle 1 day.