Harmon Hill Country Happenings: CHEERLEADER!!!

When I was growing up, I made a point to make fun of Cheerleaders. Allie and I would pull our hair on top of our heads with enormous bows and say "I'm a Cheerleader!" Truthfully, I didn't like cheerleaders because I was probably jealous - I am built like Gumby, have zero coordination, ability to jump, I am not tiny, etc - the odds are just really stacked against me. I tried out to be a cheerleader in junior high and my mother still makes fun of me. She tries to emulate my herkie jumps. Yes, Mimi may look like a sweet 1st grade teacher but she is very honest about her children's abilities - she has no problem telling me what I am not good at and cheerleading was at the top - this is why I love her, she didn't pump me up to believe I could make it only to watch me fail - she told me to try out if I wanted to but reminded me that I was smart and National Junior Honor Society might be more my "thing". Kind of a "Bless Your Heart" moment - where the truth isn't always pretty. This is also why I love shows like "The Middle" - parents that make fun of their children - they love them but they do not believe they are perfect or infallible. This is how I try to raise Ash.

So all this is leading up to the fact that I purposely put Ash in dance, gym, soccer and cheer so that she has the opportunity to try it out as I always felt that I started sports way too late - always behind the game with these long lanky limbs. I want her to try it all out and then well, I kinda expect her to be the nerd that I was and love reading and the social scene but not be "sporty". So she has taken classes in dance, gym, soccer and most recently, cheerleading. She enjoyed each but mostly it was going to practice and forgetting about it the rest of the week. However when cheerleading came along, she was hooked! It has only been 2 months since we started but this child now eats, sleeps and breaths cheerleading. Partly this is due to the fact that her team consists of two of her best friends (but so did gymnastics) and the coach is her friend's mother but it is something more - she is actually good at it. She learns each cheer extremely quickly and takes it very seriously. She practices all the time. She is actually learning the jumps too! What I have to remember is that Ash is not me - she is tiny for her age and her skills will be different than mine. She is quite the individual and I am so very proud of her! (Though I do believe she also does it because she loves the spotlight and the boys - that part is similar to her ol Mom)

Enjoy the pictures from our 1st season! I have a strong feeling we will have a 2nd season!