Besides trying for an hour and a half to get the kids to fall asleep during nap time (we were unsuccessful), the big event for the day was the Seattle Gymnastics Academy meet. Genna is a "Hotshot," meaning she's in the 4-5 year old age group and gets to wear the purple and white leotard to gymnastics. Today's meet was a competitive meet for older girls, probably 10 and older. But for the younger kids, it was a demonstration where the girls get to show parents their backwards summersaults, balance beam walking, handstands, trampoline jumping, and pull-ups. At the end, they each get a little gymnastics metal.
As I was watching the older girls jump up on the vault and flip around, I was amazed and excited about the possibility that Genna may some day be able to do that. Then one of the girls fell and hurt her ankle. At that point I began to wonder what the whole point is. I see the value in exercise, running, strengthening, and stretching, but why do we have to go so far as have them do crazy things like flipping three times in the air only to land cockeyed on one ankle. Noah reminded me that it's developing determination and persistence that is extremely valuable and taught in many sports.
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| The Hotshots line up |
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| Genna showing off her handstand |
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| Genna's first metal |
Genna did a nice job. She was particularly good at anything that used the same skills and muscles as monkey bars, her favorite playground equipment. But other than that, she's pretty much average. This is not something that I'm quite ready to accept.
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