Future Gymnast

We have thought long and hard about how best to transition Rosemary to preschool. We decided it would be a good idea to get her started in an activity one day a week that is fun, but also requires her listening to and following directions from, an adult other than mommy. I have taken her to playgroups, baby and me classes, and toddler classes since she was 2 months old to socialize her and expose her to different things, but she's always with me. We tried getting her in swim lessons this summer, but that didn't work out, and then Xander came and things got a little hairy around here for a few months, so it's taken some time, but we were finally able to enroll her in a gymnastics class. Her first class was today. Here she is all dressed up and ready to go! She was so excited for class!



We got there a little early so we were able to go up to the observation area and watch the class before her. She became SO excited when she saw the other kids! You can tell by the look on her face that she couldn't wait to get out there!

Here is the actual gymnasium with all the equipment they use. It's hard to tell in the picture, but the entire studio is lined with trophies. It's pretty neat to see!

When it was finally her turn, she ran onto the floor and started jumping on the equipment! Unfortunately, they start in a circle doing warm up exercises before getting onto the floor so I immediately had to redirect her. After the warm up activities (which include singing and dancing and silly stuff that she enjoyed), they broke into small groups, I think by age, and I went back up to the observation deck with Joe, who lovingly took the morning off work to watch Rosemary go to her first day of gymnastics and Xander. It ended up that she was in a group with only one other girl. One other girl that has probably been doing this since birth! She was doing cartwheels and backflips and able to do everything pretty much on her own while Rosemary struggled with doing a forward roll and wasn't really sure what was going on. She was having fun, though, until it was time for them to move to one station to another. She did NOT want to leave the trampolines. I actually had to go down to the floor and pick her up and carry her to the next station. At least I know her persistence and stubbornness are not solely directed at me since I wasn't even there! Overall, I think it's going to be a good experience for her. It will help her follow directions, give her some exercise, and get her used to listening to someone other than me. I just hope she does a better job of listening to the teacher next time!