The Graduate!

E is no longer a Preschooler! She had her Preschool Graduation last week. All the kids did a great job singing some songs, reciting some material and giving thanks to their families. It's kind of sad that now I will be entering a new phase of having all School age children. I have been driving to this preschool for 4 years now (M for 2 and E for 2) and now it's over. E is very ready for Kindergarten and I'm looking forward to seeing all that she acoomplishes this coming fall.

And Now Introducing the Graduate!

Can she Make it to the top?

E at the bottom of the rope in gymnastics.

Halfway up!

She did it!!!

This year in gymnastics E has had her ups and downs. She really is doing very well on her skills but was having some problems with controlling her emotional side or otherwise crying over little things. Once E starts to cry she has a very hard time stopping and would usually end up crying for the rest of the class. We were almost ready to not let her move up to the next level because we weren't sure she could handle the pressure. E is a perfectionist and she got very frustrated with herself if she wasn't able to do something. If the coach told her to keep her legs straight after a skill she would start to cry. If she couldn't jump as high as the other girls, she would cry and so on. I finally asked her if she liked gymnastics (didn't want her to think she had to do it because her sister is very involved in gymnastics) and she said "Yes, I love it." After a heart to heart talk with her, and after I told her that it was ok that she couldn't do something and I didn't care, she started to change. She also brought up her size (E is the smallest in the class and she is very aware that she is a lot smaller than all of her peers) and I had to explain to her that in the long run, her being small is actually a huge advantage for her in gymnastics. Also letting her know that she was actually doing some skills better than her older sister did at the same age boosted her confidence. The past month she has made a huge improvement and hasn't cried one time. Because of her improved positive attitude she has finally overcome her fears and climbed to the top of the rope. Once she made it to the top and she was so proud of herself. Now all she wants to do is climb that rope. Due to her improved attitude she is also going to be moving up to the pre-team this summer for the gym. She wants to do it now so we will let her try. She knows that she has to control her crying in order to be on the team and she said "I will not cry". Her coach just loves her even through all the crying and thinks she has the skills to be on the team. She too agrees that she thinks she has made a 180 in class and thinks she will do ok this summer. I'll keep you updated on how well she deals with everything.