Jack's Gymnastificating

That is a word we made up by the way!
He had a gym competition yesterday.

Our Jack has been doing gymnastics since he was about 6 years old. Just for fun at first, but now somewhat more competitively. In any case, it's a great way to keep supple, stay fit and in his case, it seems to have helped him build muscles. Which everyone comments on. All the time. I had at least 3 parents comment how impressed they are with Jack's muscles yesterday. It was weird. I felt like some sort of celebrity mother at the competition yesterday! 'Oh, YOU'RE Jack's mum? He's strong, isn't he?' Jamie and I feel like we have a cuckoo in the nest as neither Jamie or his brother, nor my brothers were at all muscly at age 13. In fact, they were distinctly weedy. So we don't know where he gets it from.

He does seem to be quite talented in the old gymnastificating department. He won 5 medals yesterday. But the gym club he belongs to is not really set up to develop boys. The few boys they have are a sort of afterthought, really. None of the instructors are trained in teaching boys here. If we wanted to take this further we'd have to join a club further from home and get really serious about training. I'm not sure how serious Jack is capable of being about anything at this point in his life. Lots to think about, especially in a one-car, one-income family.

We were all there to support him yesterday. Poor Grace, she must have been so bored sitting there for 6 hours. At least, I had thought so and apologised to her about how long the competition was taking. She didn't mind though and spent the whole time gawping. Sorry, people-watching. She finds people to be a worthy subject of study as she doesn't really understand them or their motivations.

When she was younger she WOULD insist on coming to me with her findings and questions, announcing loudly what she had discovered about people, usually whilst pointing right at them.

'That lady is shouting at her toddler. Doesn't she realise that is upsetting him?'

'Why does that girl have such weird nostrils?' and my personal favourite:

'Mummy! That man is REALLY black. Why?'

(This, whilst said man was a mere foot away and she was about 10 years old.)

She was still doing this sort of thing until she was about 12 or so but has finally managed to keep it all under her hat until the journey home, when it bursts forth in a flood. Now, she watches people with her jaw hanging open, fascinated and sometimes, obviously horrified, hat clearly bulging.

Jamie and I got numb bottoms from sitting in one place for so long. (I would have thought that was too much information. That is, until I read my friend Kristine's latest blog entry -Interesting Places I have Barfed- and now do not hesitate to mention our numb bottoms.) We were afraid to get up and move around in case we missed one of Jack's pieces. In fact, though registration was at 10.30 am, he was not called until nearly 3.00 pm!!!!!!

He did good though, with a medal haul of 1 bronze, 3 silver and a gold. The gold was for his floor routine. Here he is standing on our floor back home.