My little tumbler

Today was the little guy's first gymnastics class. We've never signed him up for a sporting activity before so we had no idea how it was going to go (he often has trouble adjusting to new environments).

At the beginning of class he was a little nervous and wouldn't even look at the teacher or the other kids. While the teacher started the class in some fun warm-up games and stretches, daddy and I had to stay on the floor and stretch too. At first, he would have none of it. He turned to me and said angrily, "This isn't gymnastics!!!" He was expecting it would be nothing but somersault all of the time.

The "pizza" stretch won him over. During this stretching exercise, the kids had their legs in a wide V and when a pizza topping was yelled out they had to madly slap their hands out on the floor in front as though they were making a pizza. Each kid got to choose a topping. The little guy was absolutely chomping at the bit to have a turn. "Mushrooms!" he yelled. From that moment on, all of his nervousness melted away.

Toddler gymnastics is designed to keep all of the toddlers busy and active all of the time. Instead of waiting patiently for a turn on the beam or the bars, the gym was set up in a circuit to keep everyone in constant motion. There were hoola hoops to jump through, tunnels to climb through, cylindrical obstacles to crawl across, structures to climb up and jump off off, balance beams to walk across, toddler sized bars to swing on...It was essentially toddler heaven. The little guy LOVED it!

There was just one problem....getting him to follow the circuit. Instead of jumping from hoop to hoop like the teacher taught him, he preferred picking them up and tossing them. Instead of crawling across the round foam gym mat, he continually tried to roll it across the room. Daddy and I stayed very busy throughout the entire gymnastics class trying to get him to stay on course or cleaning up his path of destruction. None of the other kids were perfect either, but the little guy definitely stood out for his ability to beat to his own drum. At one point I yelled out, "It's like trying to herd a cat!" But you know what? It was totally worth it because he had so much fun!

The other parents were howling with laughter watching his antics. He might not have been the model student, but he certainly made up for it in entertainment value!