Joel tried to talk her into doing basketball, and she gave him the "Are you crazy?" look. Apparently, we're much too prissy for that! :) (She did say she would do soccer in the future, though!)
I'd love to say that Abby was the best little cheerleader out there. It was obvious to me, though, she was the least "back-stage mom coached" one up there and probably one of the youngest of the kindergarten aged team. I purposely stood back and let her do it completely on her own and didn't practice the cheers for her at home, even though I second-guessed myself several times on that. I know she would have performed better if I had, but really - at age five, is that the point of cheerleading? And well, being one of the youngest in your age group is going to be one of the things she deals with for the next 18 years, so we might as well get used to that now, I guess. I think that if we did it again, I'd ask if she could be put back in a younger age group again, just to give her a bit of a leg up.
All in all, I think cheerleading was a positive influence on our family. Lily actually knows many of the cheers by heart since the girls "play" cheerleading now, and Abby and Lily understand the concept of "team" and really get into it. Lily, in fact, does a surprisingly good sports announcer impression, starting off really low and then going really high, "Let's go, Teaaaaaaaaammmmmm Mendez! Yeay!" And we've been continuing to work with Abby on her focus and concentration, and she is doing so much better at paying attention. Plus, she loves to talk about "her cheerleading friends." And I love the Upward program - where they focus on good sportsmanship and teamwork, and with the cheerleading - leadership and being an encourager. Great, great program.
And yes, I can totally see this former band nerd momma becoming a little "cheer" coach overseas, so Abby can continue with her love of cheering. The things we do for our kids, right?
1 comment:
OK, she is beyond adorable!!!! Too cute!
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