Skinning the Cat

Before you get crazy and call the fine folks over at PETA or at your local SPCA about the title of this post, keep in mind that I accompanied Emma (and Fehmeen) to her Junior Gym class yesterday.

Usually parents are required to sit behind the glass in the lobby in order to watch their kids tumble and jump, but since rules rarely apply to me, we were invited by Teacher Justin to check out class from inside the gym.

It’s an interesting experience to watch and listen to your kid interact with other kids and authority figures. It didn’t come as too big a surprise to see that Emma was definitely the most talkative student in class. She also led the group in requests for teacher assistance. Again, not really shocking.

Based upon what I saw, I think that she has the least amount of experience doing this kind of coordinated movement — balance beam crossing, parallel bar crab and bear walking, downhill ramp somersaulting, and even the aforementioned skinning of the cat on the lower uneven bar — compared with the other four kids in her class.

To his credit, Teacher Justin individualized tasks and routines for every student based upon their already acquired skills and areas that need improvement. Everyone had a good time practicing their moves on the various apparati — except for the little guy who decided against participating with the rest of the group and was asked to exit the gym until such a time when he had a change in attitude.

Apparently, he left the building not soon after departing the workout area, mumbling something about rotten orange slices and stale animal crackers.

The hour flew by like fifty minutes and as they filed into the lobby, each kid got a stamp for their hands. They were all excited to receive their little splotch of colored ink for the day and they left the premises happy and seemingly eager to return next week.

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