So, I have begun and now I am not sure if I should continue in chronological order or just post about whatever seems pertinent at the time.
To catch you up, my girls are now 19, 17, and 12 and my little man is 9 and my best tagalong buddy. My oldest is currently studying at the U of Memphis to be a teacher (K-12 with a modification for Special Ed AND ESL, WHERE did this kid get her ambition from?) and the middle two are cheering competitively with ACE All Stars of Franklin,TN and DJ is almost finished with her senior year of school cheer. We are gearing up for Cheersport Nationals in Atlanta this weekend and Dallas next weekend and it has been one crazy week! No practice Super Bowl Sunday meant that we had extra practices Saturday. Sunday and Wednesday plus regular practice Monday and Thursday then we will drive down to Atlanta Friday after school.
We are relatively new to ACE, having moved there in November after some gut wrenching arguments, lots of tears, prayers and soul searching - not necessarily in that order. We had been at another gym and my girls were so unhappy. Not because there was anything wrong with the program - loved the coach and the people, but it just wasn't a good fit for my gals. I think every parent has at one time another made a decision for their kids, only to later discover that it was just NOT the right decision. So, like a crazy woman I took the plunge and moved them to a different gym just before the first competitions of the season. I made a LOT of people mad because they did NOT understand my decision and did not approve of it at all but for you few who understood and love me anyway (you know who you are) - THANK YOU! ACE has been a true blessing to my girls. Darcy is on a TRUE, full out Amazing L5 team and loving it. Riley's coach has pushed her past her own limitations and brought out this completely confident, powerhouse who has changed her vocabulary from " IF I get my double" to "WHEN I get my double"........ and it may be YEARS down the road but she is no longer content to just perfect what she has, which is AMAZING to me and still brings tears to my eyes. So, all of the long drives and hours at the gym are once again worth it to me because of that smile I see when they take the stage.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Monday, November 14, 2011
Hello.....or how it all began.
Recently a friend of mine asked me how a crazy, anti cheerleader metal head could morph into (da da da dum!)
Uber Cheer Mom.....
So, I decided to blog about it.
It is crazy because nearly 13 years of my life have now been devoted to cheer and it all began with a little girl who wanted to play with pom poms.......
When my oldest daughter was in 1st or 2nd grade, all of her friends were signing up for Pop Warner cheer. It was a simple thing - 25 bucks for sign ups, practice once a week, then 6 football games and a trophy - so even though my experiences with cheerleaders were less than fabulous, I let her and her sister sign up. It was simple the first year, and then our coaches "retired", so the second year we got a new coach. The new coach was very cute and peppy.......then she went back to school and classes conflicted with practices so another Mom and I began filling in for her. Which was HYSTERICAL because A - I know nothing about cheer and B - I'm fat, but I am also a trooper so I researched and learned about pyramids, the difference between a cheer and a chant, offensive vs defensive cheers, jumps and the importance of stretching! (I think I always surprised my girls with how flexible a fat chick can be, lol) The girls loved cheer and the only rule I had was that they ALWAYS had to treat it like a sport. I coached for the next 5 years (all three of my daughters) and really loved it. In the last 13 years the girls have cheered for little league, middle school, high school, competitively and fingers crossed I will have one cheering in college next year. So, my dear sweet friend Jenna - THAT is how it all began -with one pair of big brown eyes and a pair of poms.
Uber Cheer Mom.....
So, I decided to blog about it.
It is crazy because nearly 13 years of my life have now been devoted to cheer and it all began with a little girl who wanted to play with pom poms.......
When my oldest daughter was in 1st or 2nd grade, all of her friends were signing up for Pop Warner cheer. It was a simple thing - 25 bucks for sign ups, practice once a week, then 6 football games and a trophy - so even though my experiences with cheerleaders were less than fabulous, I let her and her sister sign up. It was simple the first year, and then our coaches "retired", so the second year we got a new coach. The new coach was very cute and peppy.......then she went back to school and classes conflicted with practices so another Mom and I began filling in for her. Which was HYSTERICAL because A - I know nothing about cheer and B - I'm fat, but I am also a trooper so I researched and learned about pyramids, the difference between a cheer and a chant, offensive vs defensive cheers, jumps and the importance of stretching! (I think I always surprised my girls with how flexible a fat chick can be, lol) The girls loved cheer and the only rule I had was that they ALWAYS had to treat it like a sport. I coached for the next 5 years (all three of my daughters) and really loved it. In the last 13 years the girls have cheered for little league, middle school, high school, competitively and fingers crossed I will have one cheering in college next year. So, my dear sweet friend Jenna - THAT is how it all began -with one pair of big brown eyes and a pair of poms.
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