Gymnastics 3.0

It's winter time, so for Mallory that means indoor events that will help her burn some of that energy of hers! We plan on enrolling her in swimming lessons after the new year so she's taking her Gymnastics classes now. Because she is three years old, she no longer needs a parental escort in her class. She gets to do all of it on her own. That is bittersweet for obvious reasons.

Twist-N-Tumble has a new policy this year in which the parents are not allowed in the gym to watch their children. The Community Education director along with the Twist-N-Tumble director came to the conclusion the parents were too much of a distraction to their children. The evening classes are in session while the Farmington High School JV and Varsity gymnastics teams are practicing. Apparently last season there were a few kids that ran across the floor to get their parents attention, putting themselves and the high school gymnasts in danger. At first Christopher and I were upset since there is no real gymnastics competition for Mallory's age group, nor do they put on any type of show. When were we going to be able to see our daughter perform all the skills she is learning? It all worked out in the end, since Mallory's class is held on Wednesday mornings, she was not going to be in the gym at the same time as the high school gymnasts. There were five other kids in her class, so that made for a small group of parents/guardians waiting in the lobby. Because of that, we were able to peek in the gym door from time to time to watch. Also last week they allowed us into the gym for "parents week" which gave us the opportunity to see Mallory bouncing all over the place!

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It's incredible how much her tumbling skills have improved in one year. Not only does her age make a big difference, removing the element of the comfort of her parents being by her side has made her much more independent and more likely to follow instructions. One of the apparatuses she simply would NOT do last year was the high bar. This year, she's jumping up to grab onto it all on her own and spinning around it with the help of her instructor. We are so proud of her!

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This session has simply flown by. She only has one week left. Thank goodness Christmas is right around the corner, it will give her something to focus on. I remember last year when gymnastics was over she was seriously bummed out. We are so excited to see where this interest will lead in her life!