Terren and Koda. Sistahs.

Mm spent the bulk of January in a tizzy over her first gymnastics meet. Before going to bed, she would tell us regularly how nervous she was (about something that was happening in three weeks?). Mom’s response was always, I understand that you’re nervous but why worry about something that is so far away. Put your energy elsewhere. 

Soon enough, it was the day. Dad and mom, for the first time, skipped Terren’s swim races because Mm wanted both of us to attend her first gym meet. (Thanks to Melina and Matilda for taking care of her!) It is a rare chance that a second sibling gets both parents and she was very anxious. As expected after attending many of Terren’s gym meets, we watched a bit over one minute of our kid doing gymnastics over a 5 hour period, she maybe said two words to us (parents are not allowed to interact with them), and she received a bunch of medals - one in every category that she could. What was significantly different from our experience with Terren (and not completely unexpected) was the pure joy and pride mm exuded while on stage receiving and displaying her medals. She glowed. For many, many hours. 

Before going to bed, she said, “This was the BEST day of my life!” Although Mom and Dad have heard this proclamation many times before and love that MM feels such joy in her life, we aren’t quite fans of the gymnastics industry making every kid feel like an Olympian or the allure of over-praising fulfilling attention-seeking desires. That night, Mom reflected with mm on the utility of her month-long tizzy of nerves, but she also pointed out that many kids got a lot of medals. Should we lessen her pride with our bias against the sport of gymnastics for its focus on perfectionism, homogeny and appearance? Ultimately mom wants her kids to seek things they love to do inherently, and not because of the external praise or the amount of attention they receive. Should we burst her bubble? These are the questions we ask ourselves all the time.