Maddux's Gymnastics

Maddie started gymnastics this morning. As a dancer, all I want to do is introduce my kids to the wonderful world of dance. However, Eli is more interested in baseball and drums right now (tap lessons will come though!). And Maddux....well, she's just Mad Dog. We'll get there, but she's so young right now that any ballet lessons would be in vain. Gymnastics, however, will hopefully help her to use her crazy amounts of energy in a positive way. (And she'll no doubt have the tree-trunk quads Mommy has, so leg strength is on her side.)

I got her dressed in her leotard and leggings so we'd be ready to go after we dropped Eli off at school. Maddie was so excited, asking me over and over again, "Go to 'nastics' now, Mommy?" For kids under three, a mommy-and-me class is the only option. That is mainly for safety, as many other classes and lessons are going on simultaneously in this large gym. This includes college aged 'kids', which tumble and jump with a lot of force. I can just see Maddux running around on the floor in the middle of one of their routines....yikes!

We started with a quick warm up and stretch and moved right on to the balance beam. Maddie did pretty well with the sideways walking, but she was iffy on the forward walk. It was almost like she was afraid...I know that can't be since she's....well....Maddux! The instructor brought us to the foam pit after that and all of the kids jumped around in the big vat of foam squares. The only time Maddie complained was when she got stuck and couldn't get herself out. It made me kinda claustrophobic too.... The obstacle course was next (which Maddux liked the best): crawling under a few mats, tip-toeing on stars, forward rolling down a mat, walking on a balance beam, weaving in and out of cones, and jumping on a trampoline. I think Maddie is going to like this class!!