Marley's First Gymnastics Class

Marley had her first gymnastics class last Thursday! We have been talking about this class since I signed her up 3 weeks ago. She talked about it every time we drive by the recreation center and asked constantly if today was the day. But I knew she had no idea what to actually expect! She has never been in a class with other kids and definitely doesn't really understand what gymnastics is!
So, I had no idea what to expect when we went to the class Thursday night. I knew she would be shy, but I hoped she would come out of her shell by the end of it. She was so excited when we got there and she saw all of the equipment she would get to use. It was so hard for her not to climb on things and try it out before the class started, but unlike the other kids, she resisted. The teacher came by, introduced herself, and told Marley it was time for her class. So, Marley held her hand and followed her across the gym to the floor mat.There were four other kids in her class, who had all obviously done something like this before. Marley was by far the most shy child there. She held tight to the teacher's hand while they did their warm up laps around the mat, but at one point the teacher let go of her to talk to someone else. So, Marley just stood in the spot where the teacher had left her, completely frozen while all the other kids ran past her. I started to get scared that this wasn't going to work out well.

After warm up, they all sat on their "magic carpets" and did stretching. Marley knows how to do every stretchthe teacher tried to get her to do, because she stretches with me every day after our walk. But, Marley sat there with her head down like she was crying. So, i figured she might need some encouragement and went to sit by her on the mat. Now, when I was teaching kids swim lessons, this was like the last possible thing we recommended. Kids always did so much better when their parents weren't anywhere near them, so I was very conflicted about whether I should go to her or not. But in the end I did, and it seemed to help. I sat with her for a minute and did the stretches with them. I encouraged her to listen to the teacher and do what every one else was doing.By that time, my mom had come to watch and was waiting on the bench where I had been sitting. I told Marley to listen to her teacher and have fun and headed back to my spot on the bench. The next activity they did was flips, which are Marley's favorite! Each kid had their own little carpet square where they were required to sit when it was not their turn at the activity. Marley was seriously the best behaved kids there. I honestly wouldn't brag about her like that if it wasn't the truth, but I was so incredibly proud that I was beaming. They other kids were bouncing all over the place, throwing their carpet squares around, running in circles, and trying to make it their turn. But Marley sat very still on her magic carpet and waited for her turn. I was the happiest mommy in the world watching what a great little girl she was!

After the flips, they moved on to the trampoline. They had two turns each to jump across the trampoline two different ways. I was nervous that Marley wouldn't understand or would be scared to try something new. She was slow at first, but she found her confidence and bounced herself all the way across. And when her turn was over and she was walking back to her magic carpet, she was cheering, "I did it! I did it!" My eyes were literally filled with tears watching her. I know, it was just a jump on the trampoline, but it meant so much more than that to me. I was realized how proud I am of my little girl and how proud she was of herself. And how big she was! She can follow directions and bounce by herself and she could pick herself back up when she tripped and fell. These things may seem very obvious to someone else, but it just all hit me how overwhelmingly happy I was for her. And I also cried that Asa was missing it. I was trying to soak in every single thing that was happening, so that I could describe it perfectly for him and he could feel like he was there. All of that, combined with that whole being pregnant thing, made me super emotional.

Their last activity was the balance beam, which I knew Marley would be good at from all of her practice outside with Papa. She did one trip normal and one trip on her tip toes like a pro.After class, the teacher took all the kids to her office and let them choose either a stamp or a sticker. Marley came running over to our bench with her hand out and yelled, "Look! I got a tattoo just like Daddy! I show him?"She was so excited the next day to tell her Daddy all about her "nastics" class. It makes me so happy to hear how proud she is of herself and how accomplished she feels. I am so interested to see how she acts this week. I wonder if she will be shy at the beginning again or if she will be comfortable enough to participate right from the start. And I really hope that the bad behavior of the other kids doesn't rub off on her and she starts acting like they do in the class! We'll see!