OmegaMom

I’ve been fairly quiet about the dotter and gymnastics.

I originally put her in a beginning gymnastics class last fall because it was one of the things her occupational therapist had strongly recommended as a channel for her need to bounce, thump, tumble, move.  Before we left Small Mountain University Town, one of her buddies had hauled her along for a “friends’ day” at her gymnastics class, and the dotter seemed interested.

Shortly after I put her in gymnastics, it was obvious she loved it, so I decided to add a second class per week.

Last spring, her teacher approached me and strongly suggested that I move her into an intermediate class.  It was late in the teaching year, so she didn’t think it would be good to just move her then and there, but as soon as the summer session started, in she went.

It’s been pretty obvious to OmegaDad and me that the dotter has a natural talent for gymnastics.  When she focuses, she’s “on”.  And fellow gymnastics parents, watching from the sidelines with me, have made comments.

Then there was the time that one of the main coaches substituted for the dotter’s beginning teacher and shepherded her out to manage a nosebleed in the bathroom.  While we were there, she stooped and murmured to my dotter, “OmegaDotter?  You’re really good at this.  How’d you like to be a star?”

To be honest, that really freaked me out.  Fer cryin’ out loud.  She’s only six, dudes.

It so happens that the Tiny Team trains at the same time she’s taking her intermediate class; the TTs are 5, 6, 7 years old.  They had a tryout a few weeks ago, and I thought about having the dotter try out for the team, but decided that I’d wait.

Well, maybe that waiting is over with…Mr. Jay, coach of the Tiny Team, cornered me after the dotter’s class.  “You’re OmegaDotter’s mom, right?”  I allowed as how I was.  “Have you ever considered having her join the team?”

Um.  Yeah.  So.

He made it pretty clear that I could just put her in; he emphasized that even though the kids are doing a lot of work (we’re talking three three-hour long practices per week), they have fun and goof off and are silly; he suggested that we might consider “trying it out” for the remainder of the summer session, or just join up in the fall.

On the one hand, I really think it’s good for her.  It helps her focus.  She loves it–she’s always tumbling and doing cartwheels and practicing handstands and begging for help doing bridge-overs and backwards bridges at home.  Being able to do it on a regular basis, getting the confidence that being able to do the more complex things–these are good.  The discipline would be good.

On the other hand…damn.  She’s only six, dudes.