A Girl After My Own Heart

One of my greatest stress relievers when I was growing up was gymnastics. It was a place for me to pound out my frustrations and swing away from my stressful life. I would say that my parents weren't thrilled at my choice of sports. Even though, they still put up with it and poured large amounts of money into it. My mom drove me to lots of crazy places to compete and she attended most of my meets. I competed through a private gym and also for my high school. I actually switched high schools to be on their gymnastics team - they were always competitors for the state title. Once I graduated from high school, I found a gym at the college I was attending and taught for a semester there. After that, I pretty much had nothing to do with the sport. That is until now.

A factor on my "PROS" side for moving to Pennsylvania was that there was a gymnastics facility about 5 minutes from our house. And to make it even better, they offered adult classes. Oh my!! I hadn't been in the gym since I was a freshman in college. And now, I had that "badge of honor" of three children sitting on my thighs! But last fall, I gave it a whirl. And wouldn't you know how quickly most of my skills came back to me. The first day I went back, I could barely hang onto the bars, let alone swing on them or even do a "kip" - one of the hardest tricks to learn on the bars and probably the basis for every other move you will do on them. Now, I'm swinging freely and once again enjoying the release of pounding that spring floor with back handsprings to relieve tension.

I have also enrolled both the girls in the gym. Since the fall, Olivia has moved from a simple recreational class, to a kindergarten elite class, to an invitation only pre-pre team class and now into a pre-team class that meets 3 times a week for 2 hours a day during the summer. Gabi is in it more for exercise and being able to wear those awesome GK Elite leotards that her sister wears. The gym held an annual class meet a couple of weeks ago for most of the team and pre-team levels. Olivia got a good taste of what a real competition would be like - judges, rotating events, scores, saluting the judges at the beginning and end of your routine. And let me tell you, my little girl shone!! She really had a knack for all the glamour and show that goes into a successful gymnast. I was quite impressed and proud of her. She looked so cute! It was after that meet that her coaches invited her to move up to the current pre-team level that she is in now. She really showed them that this was something she is good at and potentially something to take her through life.

And believe it or not, I've met some opposition from a certain family member, reminding me of all the time and energy I put into the sport, all the injuries I incurred during my competition years and even as an adult how my posture is so much like a gymnast and how all those years in the sport has probably contributed to many of the aches and pains I have acquired as a thirty something adult. Wanna know what I have to say to that??

I'd do it all over again. Now as an almost all-knowing adult, I'd do it all over again.

It was my out, my release, my stress reliever as a very confused and hurt teenager. It kept me out of trouble. It's in my blood. I loved it then and still love it now. And if my daughter loves it, it will be in her blood too. And she will want to be in the gym and practice and compete and deal with the pain and pressures of being there. And if she wants out, she can get it out. And what makes it even better for her, she's got someone behind her who knows all about those ups and downs of the sport, someone who understands words like "kip", "aerial", "back walkover" and all the other terminology, someone who knows how to spot all those tricks and now can actually do them along side her (with several minutes of stretching beforehand these days).

I recently saw an interview with former Olympic gymnast Dominique Dawes (Hills Gymnastics, MD). In that interview she shared that when she was in the gym at the tender age of 6 & 7 years old she saw the gym as a big playground, a place to bounce and jump around and nothing more than that. I think that is the way Olivia sees it. It is fun for her. I want her to keep that attitude as long as she can. And when that attitude changes and she doesn't want to get out of the car to go to practice, then we will talk and reevaluate. I know I'm not the only parent out there that has come across this dilemma. What happens when she gets to the point that she doesn't want to get out of the car to go to practice?? How will I feel knowing all the money I have put into the sport and the time spent driving her to and from practices and competitions?? I know the gymnastics road, I have taken it. But should I deny my daughter the chance to shine, the chance to develop a potential talent, the chance to shape her self-esteem. That answer is pretty clear. And the former question, I'm just going to cross that bridge when I get there.

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