Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Too Much Olympics?

I'll confess, I'm glued to the Olympics. I tape it all and watch everything I enjoy. Thank goodness for the DVR!
My favourite event is gymnastics. I love it! I stay up till all hours watching it. The drama. The excitement. So exciting to me.
Doodle took gymnastics when he was 2. He did it every Saturday for about half a year. We struggled through it because he was in a really difficult stage and it was a parent/tot class. He had constant temper tantrums and I got annoyed. I finally quit early because it wasn't teaching him anything (though he perfected his sommersault) and I was spending my Saturday mornings angry at him instead of enjoying his company. It just wasn't working.
But, over the last year he has reminded me on numerous occassions that he liked gymnastics. (Weird - I don't remember it that way.) And he's bugged me for more classes.
The thing is, I didn't feel comfortable at the gym we were going to. it was a long drive and all the parents seemed to think they had the next gymnastics superstar on their hands. In all honesty I have weight issues and my husband is 6'3. I don't really think either of our kids have gymnastics in their blood so I was there for FUN. And also because Doodle falls a lot and I wanted him to learn to fall properly and to do things safely.
It just didn't work out.
But after watching countless hours of Olympics these days I decided to sign him up at a different gym. I'd heard great things about it so I called and went to see it. It was love at first sight. First of all the guy running it is Romanian (I think). He was so funny. He sounded just like Bella Karoli and he kept yelling out all sorts of gymnastics terms to his students while he was talking to me. It just cracked me up.
And his wife was totally sweet and funny. Doodle meanwhile was running around and all excited to see the gym, so the guy took him on a tour (including a bathroom break) and Doodle was sold. I love it.
So, the way it stands now Doodle will have 2 days a week of karate and 1 day a week of gymnastics. I'm not sure if that's too much activity, but I am thinking it's worth trying and seeing how he does. Part of me isn't sure how it will all work out, but the other part of me thinks that karate and gymnastics will be a great combo and will keep him challenged and athletic. We'll see.
Of course the baby (the Princess as she is referred to in our home) joined us for the visit to the gym. They were ready to sign her up too, until I pointed out that she can't yet sit up on her own. But, they did mention classes start at 18 months - start them young.

4 comments:

Kerry Johnson said...

HEy what gym did you sign up at? Email me - inquiring minds want to know!!! And ditto on the Olympics!

LoriD said...

I love the Olympics too. I was watching the womens gymnastics and it caught Bart's eye. He asked, "are they magic or something?" Hee.

I don't have future gymnasts either. We've just stuck with the Parks & Rec programs, which are just fine for us!

Leece said...

Good for you guys! and you never know...you could have a future Olympian on your hands!

Multi-tasking Mommy said...

Gosh, we've known you since he was 2?! I remember when you were taking him to those gymnastics classes! It seems like so long ago, doesn't it?!