Competitive Gymnastics

It all started with ballet. The week after Christmas, Eaden said she wanted to try ballet. So I looked around, and while looking, came across a day camp at the Little Gym (which also offers ballet). I enrolled the girls in the day camp and they LOVED it. They wanted to go back. We did a free trial on one of the dancing classes and they said no. They just wanted to do gymnastics. So I talked to my husband, and in late January, we enrolled them in a preschool gymnastics class at the Little Gym. While there, I was reading our neighborhood magazine and saw an add for "open gym" at another place I had never heard of. It was for ages 5 and under, there were trampolines, a zipline, etc. I thought it would be neat to try because Taven could play. So we tried it out, they loved it, and I decided to have Eaden do a free trial gymnastics class at this new place (I love free trials). Well, she loved it too and we enrolled her. Naia was upset that Eaden had two classes and she only had one. Plus, Eaden wanted to do more at the "new gym." I signed Eaden up for another class at the new gym and gave her class at the Little Gym to Naia. So, 2 classes a week for both. This is when Eaden started getting REALLY obsessed.

Every morning, as soon as she wakes up, "mom do I have gymnastics today?" If it's a no, she gets really upset. If it's a "yes, later tonight," she starts saying things like "oh it's starting to look dark outside, is it time to go (at 9 a.m.)." Then she will look at her gymnastics books, watch gymnastics videos on youtube, and practice...ALL DAY LONG.

She constantly asks me to watch her or help her with something. If I say "no I can't help you right now," she starts whining and bugging me. I never even knew a 4 year old could be this obsessed about something. Oh and I forgot to mention, after the first week of classes, the gym moved her up to preschool advanced. After the 2nd week in advanced, they moved her up again to pre team! So, on top of her obsession, she's good. Now, I have no problem with competition and wanting to be the best (I was very competitive growing up). My main concern right now is getting her to focus on something other than gymnastics. I am finding myself having to become more involved. I have to guide her away. Remind her she still likes animals and dinosaurs, nature walks, and parks. And Naia has become best friends with Taven, asking him if he wants to play babies or dress up. 

Naia loves gymnastics too, but she is not nearly as in love as Eaden...

After talking it over a little bit with a friend, and after an insane amount of nagging from Eaden, I signed her up for a 3rd class. Not only because she is constantly asking me for help and I can't help her, but because she loves it. Moneywise, this is definitely our limit. The girls are not enrolled in anything else so we can afford this...barely. If at any point, Eaden's interest starts to wane, I can drop classes. I'm going to let her guide me in this. Wish me luck.