Gymnastics. A blessing and a curse.

My kid is full of energy and is lacking the fear emotion.  I've had a hunch about this since she was just over a year old and would walk down the stairs without help.  She started going down the tallest slides at the park when she was only 16 months old.   Around 18 months she discovered jumping on the couch.  We haven't looked back since.

It was beautiful fall here, days in December were in the mid teens, we were at the park! And then old man winter showed the F up and he far overstayed his welcome.  This winter was brutal and we were homebound frequently.  So after playing with every toy she owns, teaching her about play-doh and finger-painting, we had nothing left to do....

We resorted to jumping on the couch as a means of entertainment.  It's escalated to the upstairs couch, the downstairs couch, the arm chair and her crib.  Now we can't stop her.  We always have someone sitting beside her in an attempt to catch her if she falls, but that isn't fool proof.  To add to the jumping she has learned how to do a somersault!  As a very proud mom I am always encouraging her to practice them but it's starting to backfire because she now will flip herself over the arm of the couch into a forward roll.  This frequently goes sideways, literally and figuratively.  Good thing I'm an expert pillow/blanket cushion maker on the floor.

I enrolled her in her first gymnastics class and as much as we thought it would wear her out, it doesn't.   Ha! Haahaa:(.  Jokes on us.   I bought her the smallest leotard I could find and got excited for Saturday morning gym time!  We arrive early, follow the instructor over to the toddler area while dad stays back and has his phone ready to tape some classic moments.  We are going to need this footage for when she's an Olympian in 2032.  We are asked to sit on the floor and watch the teacher as she demonstrates what the kids are to do in the obstacle course.   OK, we can do this, I think to myself.   I have to forcibly keep Madison sitting in my lap (because sitting is her least favourite activity) and I look at the other parents.  Other than one younger boy all the kids are paying attention.    We stand up and form a line.  Well, no, the other kids form a line.  Madison gives me a death grip hug and will not be put down.  So I run along the course, carrying her, showing her that all the other kids are doing it, giving her lots of praise and encouragement.  I think she gets it because she releases her hand from the back of my neck, slides down my torso and butts in front of another kid to fall into the pattern.  I'm happy, we're waving at daddy, she's doing it!   For all of seven seconds.

I think it's taken her this long to realize where we are and now she's in Maddy Mode.  This means I have to chase her around the gym because she refuses to stay with the class and follow the instructors.  She knows the facility because we go to the drop-in gym sessions every now and then; so when the opportunity arises to run away she does.  There are two places in the gym with a foam pit and she beelines it for either one.  Then I have to run after her and drag her back.  I wait for a break in the line up and get her back on track.   Some activities she likes and will pay attention to, like crawling through the tunnel or practicing somersaults.  The other things, like walking through the hula-hoop maze she doesn't give a crap about.  I look away for a second and she's gone again.  It's not like she's running in a straight line either.  No, no.   She is running as fast as she can, through the gym- cutting off other classes who are in lessons, going under the anchoring cables of the uneven bars.  As a child, this is quite easy to accomplish.  As an adult, it's shit.  She is short enough to run under most of the equipment, where I have to dodge, and climb and duck under.  She gets a good two second lead on me when I have to maneuver over and under a mess of cables.

It's been 14 minutes.  I'm sweating, I've given up on having daddy film any of this because it's going to shit, and I'm questioning if 18m-2yrs should even have a class for themselves.  Now it's time to move to the second obstacle course. OMG.  It's ONLY BEEN 15 MINUTES!! (I'm so tired).   This one I hope holds her interest better, it's bars and rings and a balance beam.  She loves these events and actually nails this one.  When she hangs from the rings the teacher standing there spotting is beyond impressed at how strong she is, how long she can hang for, and I get a little teary-eyed.  Atta girl :).  She kills the rock wall; hangs from the bar like a giraffe climbs up the big stairs.  Honk the horn on the bus and jump from a rather high platform down to a big cushy mat.  Nails it.  Teacher #2 is amazed at her no fear attitude and how confident she is in her jumping.  Ya lady, tell me about it.  That's why we're here.  

Now on to the event I've  she's been waiting for; the trampoline!  Hands down her favourite part of drop-in sessions and where we spend majority of the time when we come alone.  Now however, we are back to the issue of having to line up, wait patiently, watch the teacher and follow along.  Well, none of that is in Madison's plan.  She jumps all the way to the end and catapults herself off the end landing flawlessly on her tummy with a thud.  She laughs hysterically and jumps off the crash mat to into the foam pit.  This is trouble.  Foam time is her second favourite part of gymnastics and she will not get out.  I try to barter with her, I try reasoning, I try being firm, I try bribery.  In the end I have to jump in the foam myself and go get her out.  She is not impressed by this, but I distract her with the promise of more time to jump on the trampoline.   One more trip down the tumbletrak and she takes another flying leap.  I hear a mom commenting to me about how brave she is.  I hear another lady repeat the "she has no fear hey?" that the teacher said only 8 minutes earlier.  I chuckle and say, nope, no fear.   We end up getting a few more passes down the trampoline and I have to fetch her from the foam a couple times, but we get through that section unscathed.  I mean, I'm sweating buckets and I am starting to reconsider attending a parent/tot class.  She hasn't broken a sweat and could go for hours.  Now we go back to the obstacle course area, which in my mind is a terrible idea.  These kids don't want to go back to stepping over foam blocks when they just had fun jumping.   Oh, sorry, my bad.  It's only my kid that doesn't want to, everyone else has sat down nicely to watch the instructor and I'm running away from the lesson trying to reign my child in.  We get back to the floor and make a half assed attempt to follow along. It's been fifty minutes.  I look at the clock, 10:05, and look at the lady beside me.  I joke that I'm over this and she asks if it's too early to have wine.  I said no.   Note to self; put a vodka redbull in my water bottle for the next class.

And then the words I've been waiting to hear... FOAM PIT TIME!  For a bunch of kids who have been pretty all over the place, they all sure know where to go when that gets announced.  Twelve toddlers hauling ass towards the foam pit where they all jump or get thrown in.  This is now where the parents sit on the sides and watch the kids crawl around trying to burn that last bit of energy.  Mine however is not having this, because she already had her foam time over at the trampolines.  Now she wants to get out of the foam and go jumping.  Kid.  I get the vibe that the kids are not allowed to jump right now so I spend ten minutes throwing her in the foam, and running after her to keep her away from bouncing.  Once class is over we follow the teacher to get stamps on their hands and feet and say our goodbyes.  Dad is waiting in the very packed viewing area and probably wants to get our of there as much as I do.  I make a comment that it's his turn next time😘.

I'd love to say her being in a structured class is building her ability to listen and follow instruction; to make new friends and learn new skills.  All it's really doing is making me tired and she gets stamps that don't wash off for days.  But every Saturday morning for 8 weeks we get up and head to the gym.    And we'll do it again next session, and the session after that, because my kid loves to jump.  As long as I'm living she can jump to her hearts content.💕