Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Gymnastics girls get trophies, not stamps

Gymnastics kicked off with a little bit of a rough start this year.  We scheduled the girls' class so that I would be able to take them most weeks.  I wasn't able to do so for their first class.  When I arrived home from work that night, I was all like, "Hey!  How did gymnastics go?  Was it awesome?"  The girls responded with, "No, we didn't do anything different."

oct16a


A preschool class is scheduled at the same time as their class, which means that both classes warm up together.  Apparently, there weren't many kids in the class that first week and I'm not sure what was done for different breakout groups but the girls felt like they were still doing the same preschool routine.   Well, the class size has since doubled but it is still about 80% preschoolers.

The first part of the class is the obstacle course warm-up, which means they all follow the mats and do cartwheels, front rolls, back rolls, handstands, etc.  My kids were once preschoolers so I get it.  I notice that a lot of the young ones haven't really learned to wait their turn in line yet.  It's sometimes funny to watch Allie try to explain it to them.  Nicely, of course.

Stretching is next and then all of the kids are placed into three different groups based on skill.  My girls along with another girl who also attends kindergarten with them are always in the same group.  I actually think they are the only kindergarteners.  I've been able to attend all of their classes aside from that first one and they are definitely working on more difficult skills.  Allie's working on being able to do a pullover on the uneven bars by herself.  Anna and Emily say that it's "too scary."

The coaches still stamp the girls hands at the end of class and I was surprised a few weeks ago when the girls appeared by my side with no stamps.  It seems as if they have outgrown the stamps, which is fine with me.  When I asked the girls why they didn't have their hands stamped, Allie replied, "Gymnastics girls get trophies, not stamps."

I told her that gymnastics girls also work very, very hard for those trophies.

I love this picture of Allie's cartwheel even though the focus fell behind her.  Let me tell you - attempting to photograph a cartwheeling kid while two other kids run in front of you with no clothes on is not easy.


oct16b

6 comments:

Mama said...

I think I'm going to pull my 3 girls from their gymnastics. My 5 year old says the teacher yelled at her for not paying attention. She really got her feelings hurt and cries about it. =(

We'll have to go some where else.

Anonymous said...

I love the bunny watching Allie's cartwheel. :)

Sarah said...

I wouldn't want my kids in gymnastics where they yell at the kids. That's just not right. So far, I REALLY like these coaches. They are all really super nice and they coach the older girls as well.

Anon - that bunny cracks me up.

Kayla said...

I can totally relate to trying to get a picture and having two naked girls running around in front of the camera. That made me laugh. Along with the bunny.

Lily said...

Gymnastics, in my opinion, is the best sport. I wish I never gave it up. I have friends who used to be into gymnastics and they still have great flexibility and muscle tone.

Anonymous said...

That bunny is hilarious! I didn't catch that until I read the comments and went back to look and could not stop laughing!