Last year Olivia began to hate dance class. On Monday nights when I said, it's time to get ready for dance class she would, without fail, throw an all out fit about not wanting to go. Of course, by the time she realized she hated it, her costume had been paid for and there was no way I was going to let her quit before the recital. For a good six months, every Monday night was a nightmare. It became apparent to me that she would not be taking dance the following season.
In an attempt to keep my kids active, I decided to put her in gymnastics. In September she took her first class and loved it. It became obvious that she was amazing at it! At the end of the first 10 week session, her teacher pulled me aside and said, "We have a new competitive coach here and you might want to have her try-out". Try out? Are you kidding me? She started gymnastics 10 weeks ago....we aren't ready for that yet. The second session she took both gymnastics and tumbling. Again, we were approached by both teachers about her working with this new coach. I again thought, "Are you people kidding me?" I told them while I appreciate the encouragement, we were going to pass until she had been attending for a bit longer than 3 months. By the end of session two, Olivia was leaps and bounds above the girls in her class.
Then it happened...George cornered me and talked my ear off about my daughter's potential in gymnastics. Now before I go any further, you must know that George is from Romania and has a pretty thick accent. I understood about every other sentence that he said but enough to understand he wanted to train Olivia. He somehow convinced me to let her take a trial class and see what she thought about it.
A week later we were in the gym with these girls who have been doing gymnastics for several years. Poor Olivia looked terrified! She made it one hour in his class before she burst into tears. I felt horrible! But he suggested that we leave and come back in a couple hours when the less seasoned girls would be there. He thought she would fair better there. It took me a couple of hours to convince her to go back but eventually she decided she would give it another go. The second class was way better for her and from there on out, she was hooked.
In February, George approached me again about taking Olivia to Romania to train with their Junior Olympic team in July. SAY WHAT? What an awesome opportunity! So after careful consideration, Olivia and I will be making the trip. I am nervous and excited all at the same time. It will be an interesting trip but such a great opportunity and learning experience for Miss Olivia. My biggest concern about traveling so far away is not about the language barrier or being so far from home though, no, it's how will I blow dry my hair since they have entirely different plugs????
Sincerely,
The Queen of Insanity
AWESOME!!!!
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