Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Gymnastics with Gavin

One of my goals this summer was to find an activity that Gavin could begin this Fall when Emma went back to dance.  It was important to me because I wanted him to be involved in an organized sport, have a place to channel his energy and I did not think it was fair for Emma to always be involved in things while he sat on the sideline and watched.   After searching and searching, I realized the only thing a TWO year old could be involved in was gymnastics.   Emma started gymnastics at 18 months old, so we returned to the same gym to register our little man for the weekly Parent & Tot class.

Last night was our first night at gymnastics and it was WILD!  Gavin was overstimulated from the second we walked in the door and he never slowed down until we walked out or should I say ran out.  I know people think I am kidding when I say this, but I promise you this little boy has more energy than five two year olds combined.  


Mrs. Ronette was super surprised to see us walk in and even more surprised to see how big Gavin had gotten.  He was a newborn when Emma was in gymnastics.  It took her about 3 minutes to observe Gavin and start laughing hysterically saying, "Wow, he is so much different than Emma." 

There were about 8 little girls that showed up for the 1st night of class and Gavin was the only boy.  I wish you could have seen the looks on the faces of all the first time, stay at home girl mommas when we made our grand entrance.  All of them were sitting on the floor Indian style with their pink leotard wearing daughters glaring at the only boy that entered the room.  Class began with stretching and Gavin decided he wanted no part of sitting still and stretching, so I got up and just followed behind him as he tested every piece of equipment around within 4 minutes.  After testing out all the equipment he decided to start hopping around like a frog shouting, "ribbit ribbit" and shooting his imaginary gun at the pictures on the walls in the room.  By this time it was obvious that all the SAHM's were not impressed, nor did they appreciate the rambunctiousness of my little boy.


Gavin was afraid of nothing and needed no explanation on what he was suppose to do at each station.  He ran around like a maniac but never acknowledged the other kids in the room, so why did their Momma's think it was important to comment on my very active two year old toddler, oh and let me not forget...that is a BOY!

Mrs. Ronette kept laughing and tried to assist Gavin at each of the stations.  At one point she tried to pull him by the legs on the trampoline and quickly realized Gavin is strong as a mule.  I think she was honestly blown away by his level of energy.  All I could do was LAUGH!


About 20 minutes into class I was sweating like a pig and Gavin was soaked from sweat.  Thank goodness Daddy came along with us, so we decided to switch and Daddy came in to chase around our overstimulated, two year old, very active little boy.


Here are a few of the comments we heard within the 45 minutes we were in class from the stay at home girl mommas:
  • Wow, he has alot of energy
  • Me and my husband really wanted a boy this time since we have our daughter, but man after seeing him I am thankful I am having another girl
  • Is he always like that?
  • Stay away from that little boy, I don't know what he will do
  • Uh, if he is going to be on the trampoline just get off, get off now! 
  • He is all boy
  • How do you keep up with him?
  • I bet if you would have had him first, you would have never had her.
Seriously, are you freaking kidding me people?  This is my SON you are talking about at a level where me or his Daddy can hear you!  What was I suppose to say? I just kind of smiled, responded and tried to keep up with Gavin.  By the end of class, I had heard enough of their comments along with the looks they continued to send my way every time Gavin moved.  I wanted to tell them to STOP staring and pay attention to their own whiny kid.  However, I kept quiet and thought that I would have acted the same way if this wild man had been in our class when Emma started gymnastics.


Now look at this little face and tell me if you think he had a good time jumping off the trampoline into the foam pit.  This boy had a blast and when it was time to go, we were all EXHAUSTED.  I figure we will take small steps with Gavin and hopefully in a week or two he will be accustomed to class and participating in the warm up (a Momma can wish).

In the meantime I saw a sign for indoor Soccer that allows them to start participating at two.  I plan on checking into those details and possibly letting him do soccer opposed to gymnastic.   I am not sure I can keep smiling week after week if the SAHM's keep making comments about my child (ha ha).  If they catch me on a not-so-good day, I might end up in jail or letting Gavin get em'.

Gavin, you did an awesome job in your class little buddy.  We were so proud of you and how brave you were when it came to trying out new things.  It is safe to say that you LOVED gymnastics and enjoyed all of the climbing, jumping, running and rolling that you squeezed into 45 minutes.  I am thinking all the bow head Momma's were just a little jealous of your ability to hang from the rings while squealing like a little monkey.  Heck who knows, perhaps it was how fast you cleared the rock wall or dove off the trampoline.  Whatever it was, they better WATCH IT because your Momma is out their trying to recruit more rambunctiousness to join the class.  Yep, I am proud to be in the boy club.

I have said it once and I will say it again, I can not imagine Gavin being any other way than the way he was at gymnastics.  I love that he is so active, inquisitive, rambunctious, athletic, busy and wild.  Yes, it makes for a long day and one tired Mommy, but I love my little man with everything that is in me.

Gymnastics was tiring for me and Daddy, but so worth it to watch Gavin be able to release so much energy and have fun doing it.  Thanking God for my rowdy little boy tonight, loving the fact that he is so different from his BIG sister, appreciating his zest for life and so blessed and honored to call him my SON!

10 comments:

Adventures on the Farm said...

Gavin we are sooo PROUD of you and love your little personality.. I could not think of a sweet little boy. I hope you always keep mommies like that on there toes!!

LAURA@laurasblondemoments said...

Well I'm glad that Gavin had fun at gymnastics and I'm sorry to hear that the other moms were less than friendly! I can't believe they had the nerve to go on like that about Gavin right in front of you! He was just having fun and not hurting anyone, so they should have recognized that and had fun with their own kids and worried less about ya'll!

I have been wanting to sign my 2 year old son up for soccer, but they don't start until 3 or 4 so it makes things challenging for now. I am thinking of trying gymboree this fall but haven't decided yet.

Good luck with the prissy moms :)

Laura
laurasblondemoments.blogspot.com

Lianna Knight said...

Girl...I laughed histerically throughout this entire post!! LOVE it :)

Anonymous said...

I understand that he is only two, but part of being in a class like that is learning to follow rules and listen to the teacher. The fact that you let him run around and do whatever he wanted to without any regard for the rest of the class is not helping him learn anything.

Laura Ann said...

Dear anonymous, I appreciate and respect your thoughts. This class is participation by choice not force. The teacher discloses at the beginning of class not to make kids participate and encourages the to do it at their own pace and that is our goal with Gavin. We went through the class with my daughter we are very familiar with expectations. Our hope is that he will not be so over stimulated with the environment next week when we return. Gavin is in a very structured MDO program so I know he is fully capble of respecting structure. We are hopefu in this situation.

Anonymous said...

That sounds great! Good luck!

Anonymous said...

Uhhh...It seems like Gavin's Mommy is a little overstimulated most days too...he gets it naturally...passed down from generation to generation! Your daddy was the same way...passed it on to you...then you passed it on to Gavin! I think it is an amazing trait in all three of you! Full of joy and an overwhelming zest for life. I love it! :)

Whitney said...

Don't let those Moms run you off! It sounds like Gavin had the time of his life! I did a Mom and tot class with Morgan and always felt exhausted! She has a strong willed, go go go personality! You need to think of a funny, snide comment to say that will catch one of those Moms by suprise maybe! They will all eat crow one of these days! I know I did after I had kids! :)

Darla DiStefano said...

Hang on to your closet doors! ;-)

Kim said...

I so needed to laugh right now! Thanks! This post made me chuckle the entire time. And I am with Whit, don't let those mom's run you off if that's where you want Gavin to be. But I understand, too, if you think soccer may be a better fit. I just hope that no matter where you end up, that you are surrounded by sweet, kind moms; not the ones mentioned here. That is a shame. And I have to say, your Gavin and our Jack are two peas in a pod! They'd be a hoot to watch together! And I feel the same as you...LOVE LOVE LOVE my wild and crazy BOYS!