Small victories in child rearing

[shecky]

Let me begin by saying I mean no offense or pass no judgment on those of you whose daughters are cheerleaders.

My 6-year-old's best friend has gotten into cheerleading. Normally, what her buddy does, my daughter does (within reason and with parental approval). We got a word of warning from the other parents this would be happening. We said nothing to Madeline about it.

Of course, Maddie found out in fast time. Still, we said nothing. Maddie, however, had mentioned in the past she might like to try it. We said, Ok, but think about whether you want to cheer for other people or have other people cheer for you.

Lo and behold, she chose to have people cheer for her.
Maddie: "Catherine is doing cheerleading, but I decided I want other people cheering for me. When does soccer start? What about swimming? Can I play T-ball again?"

The small victories sometimes seem so significant.:rockin:

 

[the_bird]

:rockin:

Nothing against cheerleading, but yeah - better to be on the field DURING the game, not at halftime.

 

[shecky]

No doubt, especially in this family. Her mom was an all-state field hockey player and my college was mostly paid by a baseball scholarship.

I was afraid when she dressed as a cheerleader for Halloween a couple times. Glad she's come around.

 

[Ryan_PA]

Nice. I have a 1 year old daughter, I hope she takes after her dad and rips it up on the baseball (or softball) diamond.

 

[the_bird]

No doubt, especially in this family. Her mom was an all-state field hockey player and my college was mostly paid by a baseball scholarship.

I was afraid when she dressed as a cheerleader for Halloween a couple times. Glad she's come around.

My goal is for The Bean to play PF at UConn.

(Not really, my goal is for her to grow up to be a smart, healthy, strong, well-adjusted woman with a curiousity about life. Who happens to play power forward).

 

[Brew-Happy]

What about your sons and cheerleading ???

j/k


My wife did softball in high school and I love that about her. It is great to be able to throw a few or even play games. Most men are surprised by her throwing ability.

 

[shecky]

My goal is for The Bean to play PF at UConn.

(Not really, my goal is for her to grow up to be a smart, healthy, strong, well-adjusted woman with a curiousity about life. Who happens to play power forward).

I have some ins at UConn thanks to my job. Let me know when she's ready. I'll put a bug in Geno's ear.

I have different worries with my younger daughter. She walks around saying she's a boy. I have to say, she throws well, hits the crap out of a Wiffle ball and has a nice stroke on her jump shot. And she's not yet four.

A possible UConn teammate of the_bird's Bean?

 

[brauhaus]

My 1yo daughter is a bruiser, very cute, but she can take a few spills and nothing phases her... poor thing skins her knees on the backtop, gets up and keeps playing, I think it's harder for me than it is for her.

Last night we were kicking a soccer ball around and I think she is going to be more active in sports than cheerleading.

Although, I don't care what she decides to do, even though I'm no cheerleading fan, or one of the "cheer" parents...

 

[the_bird]

I think I make my wife a little uncomfortable with how aggressively The Bean and I wrestle. She'll take off across the room and run into me, full-speed, like a linebacker (I had to teach her the other day to keep her head up when doing that). We also arm-wrestle a lot. She's a big, strong kid, last we checked, she was in the 98th or 99th percentile for her age.

I've also been teaching her to appreciate the virtues of female-fronted, power punk bands; her favorite is The Fastbacks. I firmly want her to grow up with the attitude, when told she can't do something because she's a girl, to be "**** YOU, I'M DOING IT!"

A few of my wife's relatives are into Rollerderby out in Buffalo; I really want to take her to see....

 

[shecky]

We go to great lengths to tell them to never let anybody tell them they can't do anything.

On one of my trips to DC, I picked up a t-shirt for my younger one. There was a pink one that said, "Future First Lady." I grabbed the navy blue one that said, "Future President." I figured, why shoot so low?