I still can't believe that our baby girl is a silver medal-winning, competitive gymnast; 2nd best in the whole state for her age group, as a matter of fact.
Ahava came in 2nd place in State! (Between teammates Jayden & Emily) |
In March her gym hosted the New Mexico State Gymnastics Championship and in her very first year of competition our 9 year old daughter, Ahava, totally rocked it!
Moving to the team was so exciting, but to be honest, I had no idea what that meant until she actually competed in a meet in November 2013. Perhaps if I had been clearer about what an incredible family commitment it would be to have a competitive gymnast I might not have been so eager to see her moving on up. We went from driving into town 2 days a week for an hour lesson to 4 times a week for 2 or more hours. Not to mention it became much more expensive. Who knew a tiny little piece of sparkly cloth (i.e. the team leotard) could cost more than a hundred dollars?!?
But, despite my grumbling, I am glad now that I didn't know better then. If I had discouraged Ahava from moving up to the team because of the extra time and money that required she would not have had the chance to push her own limits the way she did. Without being on the team where the coaches work with the girls every day on building the fundamentals of the sport, she certainly wouldn't have nailed her round-off back handspring or stuck her dismount from the beam. She wouldn't have been tested so much so quickly. And she wouldn't have had the chance to shine under pressure. Pressure that was pretty insane for the State Meet. Not just because it was her biggest challenge to date, but because I had one of my biggest "Mommy-fail" moments that day; I accidentally sent my car keys to the meet with her uncle so I had no way to drive her to the gym on time. She made it just after the opening ceremony and was able to compete, but that added a heaping pile of additional pressure onto her plate unexpectedly.