Don’t fight the fine print; jump in and have fun

Saturday morning found me in an awkward position—tackling downward dog on a gymnastics mat in a community center with three other adults and three toddlers. It was not the morning I had planned.  

I signed my two-year-old daughter up for toddler gymnastics as a birthday gift. I was so excited to enroll her because she’s my little jumping bean. I counted down the days to the first day of class.  

Keira and I got to the center 15 minutes early. “I bounce,” she repeated on the way up to the doors. Inside, I settled in on a cozy couch near the wall-to-wall windows looking into the gymnastics room. I spoke with Keira about the class and described all the equipment her teacher was setting up—essentially getting her revved up for the 45-minute class in which she would meet new buddies and exercise her penchant for bouncing around.   

She was ready to rock and roll and showed her teddy bear Teddy Jr., AKA “Teej,” the landscape just beyond the glass windows. She was soon going to be unleashed. Mommy and Teej were going to get 45 minutes of downtime—Teej needed it more than I—to sit back and watch our little girl expend her early morning energy.   

Wrong.  

“Parents, you can take your shoes off and join us on the mat,” the teacher said as she welcomed us in.

“What?” my mind raced.

Oh no, I realized, it was a class for tots and parents. When I signed Keira up for gymnastics, I didn’t read the fine print. And the fine print had my name all over it: Mom as in “Tot and Mom” gymnastics. Meaning, I had to hit the mat, jumping, stretching and balancing as well.

I can’t even find time and energy to hit the dusty elliptical in my basement. How was I going to keep up with two-year-olds and a teenaged gymnast who was doing flips as we settled to start warming up?

However, like any mom (or even dad) would do, I quickly switched gears, shook the morning fog from my brain, took off my shoes and hit the mat jumping. I “planted flowers” up my legs and “patted the soil” down my shins. I cracked my back stretching out. And I cringed when I had to touch my toes, but I had to smile when I looked over and saw my little girl flexing to the floor, blonde hair sweeping the mat, giggling and loving every funny minute with her clearly inflexible mommy.

I knew at that moment, “Mom and Tot” gymnastics was going to be a good way to kick off the weekend, and I was glad I didn’t have to be relegated to the creaky old couch just outside that window.

Let’s just see what next Saturday brings.

Trish Grodzicki is brand new to the Mile High Mamas. She is the proud momma to a two-year-old named Keira and two rambunctious dachshunds. She likes to say she is the mom of three little girls—-some furrier than others.

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