First Class

Today was the first day of gymnastics class for Sam and Emily.  Since I'm a part-time stay at home mom for the summer I wanted the kids to experience classes during the summer since I can't make it work during the school year.  I debated about classes but the only real options were swimming or gymnastics.  (We had to fudge a little bit about Sam and Emily's age to get in.)  Swimming was eliminated because we thought I could take them instead of taking a class.  So... gymnastics it was. 

Neither Paul nor I are gymnastically inclined.  Other words - we aren't flexible, we aren't overly strong, and we are above average in height.  So this may be the only chance the kids get to pretend to be gymnasts.  I remember my mom telling me a story about my short lived gymnastics career.  It involved a mention of how tall I was at about age 4 and that I should just give it up.  (Is that right mom?)  I have never been able to do a cartwheel or a handstand.

We rushed around with dinner to get to the rec center on time.  And we arrived just as they were opening the doors to the gym.  It seemed like all the other kids and parents knew just what to do.  We went in and sat in a circle.  It was pretty obvious that Sam and Emily were just about the youngest ones in the class.  There is one other little boy is pretty close to their age. 

We did a short warm-up.  Or we pretended to and then we were off to do obstacle type activities.  They involved jumping, forward rolls, jumping, hanging on bars, walking on balance beams, rolling and crawling over or through objects.  Paul and I tried to decide where to start and we chose the rolling.  They really aren't ready for most of the other stuff. They liked to do the forward rolls with the help of the teacher.  Emily loved the mats.  She would almost lay down and "swim" on them and giggle.  She was in heaven.  Sam on the other hand wasn't as jazzed as little E.  He did do great on the balance beam and I was impressed with his ability to stay on the beam.  Emily just stepped and hoped that you would keep her up. 

With about 5 minutes left in class the teacher got out the parachute.  She asked Emily to help spread it out (since we had done enough rolling for the night and were standing nearby).  I wasn't sure what the kids would do with the parachute.  I thought it might scare E, but it was almost the other way around.  Sam took a while to warm up and just wanted to stay on my lap whereas Paul had to get up a retrieve Emily from the other side of the parachute.  She was all over and giggling while walking on the parachute. 

Although the kids can't quite do all the activities it is still great for them to be in a class with other kids.  They also get to do different activities than we normally do which is beneficial too.  I think they are one step closer to being able to roll down hills after today's class. 

We can't wait for next week!

What we wore to class.   Yes, they are a little bit of a fashion disaster but I'm just teaching them early that you don't have to look spectacular when you go to the gym.  I wasn't sure about socks and shoes, so next time E won't have look as silly.