Gymnasts Present!

Never mind the blistering heat, yesterday's big news was the gymnastics show (and they do call it a show) at the little place where both kids take gymnastics class. For this show, the parents, and in some cases grandparents, sit in folded chairs along one wall of the gym. The kids line up outside the gym and walk in a sort of procession. The kids divide up in to "squads" and march off to Olympic music to do their various routines on the different equipment.  Excuse me, apparatus. Normally, parents are sequestered in the upstairs room and given strict instructions not to greet the children or wave to them during class, but today we were invited to follow them around the room and take pictures or video.
I tried to make a movie of Sammie's trampoline portion because it was so funny. The teacher basically had to act it out for her. So you see her jumping while looking nervously next to her waiting to be shown what to do. I think it's jarring for kids who've basically looked on this as playtime to have to perform for their parents. Of course, that's part of the marketing thing here. They do a recital like this one, and then you sign up for more lessons. Only we didn't do that.  They made a huge big deal about handing out medals to each kid. Announcing the names and having them throw their arms up in the air on this signal: Gymnast's present! When asked afterward if she'd had a good time, Sammie said, "Look at my balloon." Enough said on the kid's perspective. 

Funniest part was when we left and Larry said, "I was interested to see the pairings there." I'm thinking: What the heck is he talking about? I forget that Larry has been taking the kids to gymnastics these past six Mondays so I can get work done. So at this show, all the mothers were greeting him, talking to him, women who didn't say boo to me for eight months. Now I'm realizing, it's rooster in the henhouse syndrome. And Larry's got the nerve to comment afterward on the husbands.