Future Olympian

Genevieve is part monkey. She's always loved climbing, swinging and jumping and has practically no fear about anything on a playground. Years ago when John and I would walk with her, one on each hand, she figured out how to do a backflip between us. She also has the perfect gymnast's build. So when Miss Karen recommended I sign her up at the Gymnastics Training Center, it seemed like a no-brainer.



I have never seen her so happy. The classes are 90 minutes long, but afterward she's not tired, she's just pumped up and can't wait for the next one. The first day she jumped into a pit of foam blocks from about 10 feet up and thought it was hilarious. I doubt that I would have had the guts to do such a thing in my life. I showed her some of the Olympics gymnastics, and she loved it. Shawn Johnson is now her idol.



I'm generally not allowed to watch, but yesterday was the last class of the summer, which is parent observation day. She spent the entire time bouncing around. I noticed that she wasn't so great at following the instructions--she was too excited. She seemed to be unable to keep off the other equipment when she was supposed to be standing patiently in line. Her favorite is definitely the bars. Sara Jane, the owner of the school, says that's because she's "strong like a bull." Definitely. She's got incredible muscles for a kid her size. She also loves the balance beam. And a real treat is when they put them in a harness and hoist them up in the air to do flips. How could this be my kid?

I'm so glad she's found something that she enjoys so much, though. I don't see much difference between her ability and the other kids her age, but apparently Sara Jane sees potential. She wants her to train up to get on the team. We're going to take it slowly for now, but we'll see...