Tiny Tumbler - 3/26-08

Megan's little friend Anna had a birthday party at "The Little Gym." (For those of you who don't know, "The Little Gym" is a gymnastics studio for toddlers and children.) At this birthday party, I somehow became convinced I was depriving my child of crucial social interactions and opportunities to develop gross motor skills because she was not yet enrolled in a gymnastics class. The parents of the children who attended "The Little Gym" were convinced their children followed directions and played better in a group than other children. Call it peer pressure. . . call it whatever you want . . .but I promptly enrolled Megan in the Wednesday night class with her friends Anna and Cooper. (The tuition for this class almost prompted me to choke on my own saliva......but I bit the bullet and paid praying this class lived up to the hype. Then, of course, it was off to find a leotard and matching hair bows for my little Maggie Moo. And people wonder why they call my husband St. John?!?)

Well, guess what...........I HATE GYMNASTICS CLASS!!! Every Wednesday night, I have to fight rush hour traffic. Once there, I literally chase Megan around the gym trying to convince her to participate in whatever organized activity the class is doing. She screams, goes limp when I pick her up, and basically just refuses to cooperate. Many of the tots in her class are older than her and seem to participate quite willingly. My friends Kasey and Andrea are able to chit chat with each other while their children practice their skills. I'm sweating and running around like a maniac, worried my child has ADHD or something. Megan marches to the beat of her own drummer.......which would be just fine if I hadn't paid a small fortune for her to follow the crowd!!!

She loves to play on the mats, especially when her teacher has everyone sit in a circle on the other side of the gym! Notice no other children in the background??

Megan only walked on the balance beam the first few weeks. Then she figured out that is what she was SUPPOSED to do. She hasn't walked on it since. ha!

If she wasn't so stinkin' cute............

I think my friends should pay me to teach their children gymnastics. I could run around in a circle, blow some bubbles, do a somersault (oh, sorry...forward roll) and laugh all the way to the bank......just like they do at "The Little Gym!"

Sad to say, but John and I are counting the days until Megan "graduates" from gymnastics class. Seriously, what in the world did I expect from a 21 month old??? I think we'll take the summer off from organized activities.........that is until the next mom raves about the excellent music appreciation class her child is taking!!!!! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.