The Beginning

     The first time my daugter stepped onto a spring floor wearing a pretty new bodysuit covered in pastel butterflies her eyes lit up and her smile spread from cheek to cheek.  It was like someone switched on a lightbulb and she knew what she wanted to do.  Mommy on the other hand was not too sure she wanted her baby girl flipping over vaults, balancing on a piece of wood only a few inches wide and hanging from bars with only a few mats below her but, she wanted it and I felt I had to accept it. Afterall it was only an hour a week.
     Looking back that first practice seemed oh so long ago even though it has only been about 3 years.  Jesslynn, my daughter, is now ten-years-old and she is still at the same gym.  Granted the coach has changed a few times and we've gone from one hour a week to 15 hours a week but, her love of women's artistic gymnastics and tumbling has not faltered in fact I think it has grown!  There seems to be nothing she loves more and she has her goal set on provicial and perhaps national compition.  (What will I do!)
      It didn't take me long to figure out I was along for the ride in the whole gymnastics dream she seemed to have.  I never counted on being a gymnastics mother but the choice was never mine.  She had a natural drive in her to be at the gym many days a week and while it was my cheque book that paid for it all I could not have asked for a better journey to tag along on.
     In three years Jesslynn has progressed through the programs moving from a recreational athlete to a pre-competitive athlete and now a level three athlete.  Is she ready for the Olympics?  Of course not but she is working hard, learning great values and work ethic, and I couldn't be happier with her choice and I fully support whatever dream she has.  Now that said, I am not always ontop of things and I do not always understand the ins and outs of the sport of women's gymnastics and that is the goal of this blog, to provide information and help to parents trying to navigate the world of competitive gymnastics.
      I hope you will find some useful information within these posts and I hope you will add your own thoughts and comments as well.  I will provide links to information on competitve gymnastics and news from the sport and I will also provide articles for parents and young athletes.

I hope you will enjoy this blog and find it useful!