My Daughter, the Athlete

So my daughter, age 12 found out I had a blog and of course, the first thing she asked was..."Mom, are you going to write about me?" I told her "Oh probably! I'll sneak in and take a picture of you sleeping tonight & write about how loud you snore!" She told me I shouldn't lie on my blog! So, I guess that's out!

So I'll tell you what she's really like. She's an athlete. From the minute she was first placed in a blanket the first thing she did was wiggle her toes free. The girl needs to be able to move her feet. It should've been a clue to her future. She wanted to dance at age 4, I made her wait until she was 5. She wasn't happy with JUST that, because that only occupied her 1 day a week. She needed more, so we added soccer, that took up 2 days a week for 2 months out of the year. (Don't worry, I'm not one of "THOSE MOMS"!). She still wasn't happy, so I got her a bike so she could use those feet to pedal about. That seemed to do it. The girls a worker, she stays in shape, she motivates herself and she isn't intimidated by taller kids, complicated dance moves, taller players, BOYS or even a lot of hard work. I'm quite proud of her.

Last year she decided that she wanted to perform a solo at a few dance competitions. That would've been meant private 1 on 1 lessons, costumes, entrance fees, extra props here and there. The dollar wheels were spinning in my mind and I was getting nauseous about it. Luckily she had an AWESOME dance teacher that provided a means for her to do this. FUNDRAISERS! UGH! I about died when she told me "Mom, I get 1/2 amount of the money from what I sell! I only have to sell X amount to get enough to pay for it." Her figures were off, WAAAAAAY off, but I didn't have the heart to tell her. I hate fundraisers, I hate taking my kid around guilting people into buying things they really don't want. But she was determined. Now mind you, this was NOVEMBER in UTAH! It's COLD! She grabbed her salesheet, clipped it to a clipboard, shoved her pencil between her teeth and hopped on that trusty pedal-bike! By the time she was done, she had readjusted her goal several times and had earned enough to pay for her entire year of dancing!!!!!!!! I was FLOOORED! But I was most proud of her when people would call me telling me how polite and informed she was! Little did I know that would end up being her last year of dancing. (at least for awhile) Her beloved teacher retired to have a family and so the dancing shoes were hung up for awhile.

This was the result: 1st Attendant!!!



This year she is concentrating on soccer and a new sport: Gymnastics! She's been to 3 lessons. She's taken gymnastics in the past, when she was 4 and a few months when she was in 3rd or 4th grade. But it's been awhile. Tonight she performed with some other gymnasts at half-time at the football game! Imagine my shock to watch her do back-flips and back hand-springs!!!! THREE LESSONS I tell you, THREE! I was so proud of her willingness to work hard to get herself where she thought she should be. The girl's gonna go far. I'm proud of her! I love her, she keeps me on my toes!!!


Check out that concentration! Eye's always on the ball but keenly aware of where that ball needs to go, who she needs to get it to and who she needs to get away from.