As a 4 year old, my daughter could be found hanging upside down from any piece of stable furniture in the house. She could also be found standing on her head as best she knew how on any cushioned surface and in the next breath leaping from sofa to love seat in a single bound as if she were part flea. Fast forward to the first grade; my husband and I decide to place her in an after-school program that doubled as an introduction to gymnastics. Finally! She was burning enough energy to stop fighting going to bed and she began to come into herself more, displaying confidence in circumstances where she could previously have been seen hiding from the world. Though bright, friendly, compassionate, and adorable my daughter was so unsure of herself on varying levels and I wanted to find something to help build and maintain her confidence. Taming her in-house acrobatics turned out to be an added bonus. After a year of the after-school play program she was invited to participate on the gym's showcase team. Now in the third grade our daughter has been invited to compete in a Level 4 program at a sister gym across town or in a new program being started at the gym she's been performing for that will also follow Junior Olympic Guidelines. To ease our child into the world of competitive gymnastics we chose to remain at the gym she is most familiar with instead of changing her location, her coaches, her training schedule, and the focus of her training, all in addition to learning how to compete rather than showcase.
We feel really secure in our decision for introducing our daughter to competition but I have a bit of anxiety. I am excited to see my baby girl come into her own as each new skill that she masters seems to keep open that door that she used hide behind allowing her to know and believe that she can accomplish anything with focus, persistence, and possessing more heart than fear. The anxiety I have mostly surrounds making sure that I am able to help her balance her life and not overwhelm her so that her success in school is always at the forefront of any and all activities. I have so many questions, which I think really is from where my anxieties stem. I tend to relax when I have as much information as possible available to me so that I feel as though I know how to make the best decisions for my family and me. As I set out looking for answers I realized there are not many resources for the parents of children competing who know basically nothing of the sport outside of the televised Olympic competitions seen across the world. If I'm honest with myself I have to admit that I know nothing. I'm okay with knowing nothing, but I am not okay with not learning anything. So that is what I intend to do here. As my daughter learns about her sport, I will learn too. Actually, I will need to stay a step ahead of her so that I can help her make the long term decisions that will inevitably arise in her life as she progresses through the sport.
I am now, officially, A TumbleMom and these are my adventures, Fly High & Stick It Ya'll
