Move More, Think Less

We started Ainsley in gymnastics in the beginning of the summer. She's definitely not a physical kid so I wanted to see what would happen when we put her in a really physical situation. She was in the 2 year old class and was the oldest one in there. The class was structured as a parent involved class. I thought this was a great way to get her started and then in the fall she could transition into the 3 year old class that was not parent assisted.

I bought her a leotard and got her dressed for class the first night. She couldn't have been more excited.

We met her teachers, Miss Lori and Miss Jasmine.  She instantly fell in love with both of them, especially Miss Lori.  She barely knew I was in the class with her.  She was attached to Miss Lori's hip.

Some of the skills were pretty easy for her.  The balance beam seems to be her best, followed closely by somersaults. 

But other things were really hard.  Jumping really wasn't her thing.  She would try and try but she really couldn't get off the ground.  It was then that I started looking around at the other kids in her class.  Most of them were young 2 year olds.  They seemed leaps and bounds ahead of her.  This was when I started to get concerned.  I started to pay closer attention to her skill level compared to the other kids in her class.  It was pretty drastic the difference. 

So Miss Lori worked with her every week.  She got a lot of one on one attention.  She definitely improved.  But not enough.

So this past week, I took her over to Physical Therapy.  They evaluated her and she is indeed behind.  But we are going to catch her up.

Then today we started the 3 year old class.  Where I could shield her from realizing she was behind before, I couldn't do it now.  I'm not in the class.  So I sat on the side and watched as she got passed by other kids in her circuit.  My heart broke for her.  Then after class her teacher approached me.  I hadn't warned the teacher but she figured it out pretty quickly.  She asked me if I thought she needed to go back to the 2 year old class. 

While it's one thing to know there is a problem, it's a complete other thing to have someone who has only known your child for 45 minutes pick up on it enough to say something to you.  Maybe it's hormones or maybe it's just my mama bear instinct protecting my cub.  Either way, it doesn't matter.  It still hurt.  But I decided to keep her in the 3 year old class.  I think the peer pressure will be good for her.  I think being away from me will help remove the crutch she leans on. 

And so we move on and get her to move more.  That might be a good philosophy for me too..."Move More, Think less"