The enthusiastic gymnast

We had a reluctant gymnast on our hands at the end of last year. Little Missy complained and did not want to go. She was also very demanding that we stayed next to her with the little gymnastics.

It changed at the beginning of this year, and she has been happily going, and doing the exercises on her own.

On Saturday she moved up to a bigger class, where they will be learning to do small routines.

I have a rule that if you start with a new activity, that you should do it for at least a year. After that you can change your mind again. It is expensive to pay the fees and pay the clothes, and then just to move on to the next thing.

I am glad that we did not stop going to the gymnastics.

Update

It has been crazy here. I think everyone has the same experience, with all the end-of-the-year finals and stuff coming up.

We have only the Little One to sort, and we have to decide on which overlapping event to attend!

I have been busy working on a presentation, which kept me busy for a month (at least). I was cursing and stressing about having said yes, but it all went well in the end. 

It is sometimes necessary to accept some challenges! It helps to become not too complacent. Although you wonder about your own sanity, and why it is necessary to rattle your own complacent little box, while you are stressing out big-time!

I completed my first MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) before that, and it also took up a lot of my time. I am definitely going to do more of these. It is free!

Little Missy is busy as well! She never stops practising the hand stands and roll-overs and ... Any kind of movement she thinks of doing next! She is moving up to the bigger class at gymnastics on Saturday, which is also going to be a change for her!

I have to conjure a different hairstyle for her each day! The previous week she had a tantrum about wanting curly hair. At six o'clock in the morning I had to make her hair curl! (Mothers can do anything!)

For the nerds/geeks here: I finally upgraded my iPad 2 to iOS 7, and I am loving it! I was contemplating chucking the thing, and all of a sudden it's got a new life! 

I am teling everybody I know about it, and somewhere someone must share my enthusiasm!?

Happy weekend!

Video of Tiny Tumbles classes through Animoto

Tiny Tumbles

Check out this video I made with @animoto - Tiny Tumbles #videos #apps #mobile http://t.co/QswQwQ2pnJ
— Karen du Toit (@karentoittoit) June 18, 2013

I have been playing around with applications on my mobile for an online mobile librarian course. (ANZ 23 Mobile Things).

I love this for a quick and sleek professional video made from your photos or videos on your mobile.
It is available on Android and on iOS, but unfortunately not on Blackberry.

Wordless Wednesday #168 - Photobombed at gymnastics

Wordless Wednesday #166 - Gymnastics jump to bicycle stand

The reluctant gymnast

For the past few weeks we have had a reluctant gymnast who does not want to take part in the gymnastic exercises anymore.

She tells us she does not want to go.

But she loves hanging and swinging and jumping on the trampoline. It's just when they are asked to stand in a group and doing the warm-up exercises, or having to do exercises on their own...


We are not supposed to help them anymore and have to look on from the side. She still wants us to stand with her and hold her hand...

I look at all the other children and they all get their uncooperative days.

But she has been doing it now for quite a while...

I don't know if it's worth forcing her! I would have loved for her to continue a little longer. I think the exercises are extremely good, and she gets to catch up on milestones she might have missed, such as not crawling (she only did a crab creep).

How long should I give her before we call it a day?

What do you do about extra activities and children suddenly deciding they do no want to go anymore?

 

Posted with Blogsy

Vertigo

The Toddler has vertigo!

 

We see it now especially with her moving on to the bigger class in Tiny Tumbles.

She tells us no she can't! She's afraid!

She has to be coaxed and bribed to do the uneven bars, and she still needs a hand walking on the higher beam.

I had a bad case of vertigo myself and could never climb trees. But the older (as in my thirties) I got, the easier it became.

I don't know how to make it easier on her? I used to not climb trees, and stayed on the ground, but I think I missed out on a lot of views from higher up!

Any ideas on how to help a toddler overcome their fear of heights?

Posted with Blogsy

Wordless Wednesday #140 - Pommel Horse exercise

Mini Olympics - tips for children at home

The Olympic Games will start today in London, and there is nothing that inspires one but to see the greatness of physical achievements in action.

I still remember how we used to start exercising vigorously when we used to watch the Olympics when we were children...

Tammy Smith, gymnast and owner of Tiny Tumbles, has posted a list on Kidzworld of Mini Olympics we can do with the children at home. The Toddler still has tiny gymnastics classes each week with Tammy, and I think we will definitely continue as long as possible.
Mieka enjoys it immensely, and I can see how far she has progressed since she started doing the gymnastics.

Tips to help your family to enjoy the fun and games of the Olympics:

1. Some favourite games that can be played:

    - Egg and spoon race (with boiled eggs)

    - Wheelbarrow race (The biggest of the two holds the second person at the knees while they run on their hands)

2. Gymnastics:

    - Handstand competition (stand with you back against the wall and place hands on floor. Walk with your feet up against the wall, and see who can hold the position the longest)

   - Walking on a low beam or pole at home without falling off (an extra one put in by me)

3. Ball sports:

    - Balloon volleyball (helps with hand-eye coordination and much easier to control than normal balls. See how many times you can hit it back and forth without it landing on the ground)

4. Wrestling:

     - Pillow fights (on the bed with cushions. If you get knocked down you get tickled.)

You can read Tammy's list here: Mini Olympics Games ideas for children


I am sure there are a lot more Olympics Games to think of.
Do you have any more ideas?

Wordless Wednesday #129 - Exercise fun

 

Wordless Wednesday #119 - Jump!

Wordless Wednesday #117 - Toddler head stand

Movie Clip Monday #23 - spider exercise

Make like a spider with Tammy Smith of Tiny Tumbles.


(Thanks to Tasneem at MumDrum for her Movie Clip Monday idea)

Related post:
Movie Clip Monday #22 - Body awareness exercises

Threats from our toddler

37 months on Saturday and she knows how to make a threat!


“I am going to tell my sister!”
(The sister who is now at varsity.)

Then it gets more violent after that, because she tells us what her sister is going to do with us…

With guns and knives…

It’s funny, but also NOT!

Where does she get the language? Because it is not how we speak to her or each other…

A sad reflection of our society today?

Too much TV?

Bad TV?

Bad parenting?

We find that being a 3-year old is a very aggressive age!


The year is in full swing and its back to tiny gymnastics again! She missed the classes, and I could see the improvement from the previous year.

Tiny Tumbles

The Toddler met her new cousin, and we had a whole discussion about the family hierarchy.

“Sunet is my baby!”
Dad: “No, she is Elise & Karel’s baby! She is your cousin!”
“She is MY cousin, not yours!”
Dad: “Of course, because I am her uncle!”
“She is not Clarisse’s cousin!”
Dad: “No, she is Clarisse’s sister!” and so on...

She also did not want me to take the baby home!

Welcome, Sunet!

We had a very relaxing weekend with our toddler, and there was time to do some decorating in her room, thanks to Mr Price!

Pinocchio turned out to be a scary bed-time story, because she woke up screaming about the growing nose last night!
Back back in the shelve with Bambi...

Monday, and missing the little face her again!


How was your weekend?


Related post:
Some toddler stuff

Movie Clip Monday #22 - Body awareness exercises at Tiny Tumbles

Tiny gymnastics on Saturday.

The Toddler was in a good mood...

She was very excited that she got to do a foreward roll on her own as well!

Bears for the Teddy Bear Clinic

Each year Tammy Smith of Tiny Tumbles has a social responsibility programme where she asks that each child bring a bear of the child to donate to the clinic.


The Teddy Bear Clinic is

a non-profit organization dedicated to ensuring abused children are protected and rehabilitated. We provide therapy, counseling, assistance, love, comfort, safety and ongoing support to children who have been abused. The Teddy Bear Clinic does not only work with children, but with parents and communities empowering them with knowledge and skills we can help put an end to child abuse.

Some children find it very difficult to part with their beloved bears (there are some tears), but for the most part they are happy to give, especially when told that they are giving to children who do not have bears.

We had our bear-giving on Saturday.

The children first had to do some exercises with their bears, and then it all went onto the pile of bears.

186 bears and soft toys were collected

Toddler social faux pas

The Toddler had her own cringe-worthy moment on Saturday when she mistook another dad for her own...

It was at the tiny gymnastics when she backed up into another dad, and did not look behind her, but comfortably stood in the arms of anther person. She even swayed back and forth against him. It was only when his daughter came standing in front of her with a quizzical look on her face, that she realized something was wrong...

We could not help but laugh!

She was extremely embarrassed, and ran into my arms! For the next 15 minutes she did not want to leave our arms, or take part in the gymnastics...

It made me realize that a social faux pas is as embarrassing to them as we would have felt in the same situation. We should be extremely careful in how we handle their embarrassments!

It was good that we helped her to recover. We allowed her to stand in our arms, and we did the exercises with her.

Until she felt confident enough to do it on her own again!

Note to self: Do not make light of her emotions and feelings!
                   Give her the safe space and her own time to bounce back!


Could we have handled in differently with regards laughing at the situation? (It was extremely funny!)
How should we handle it in future?

Wordless Wednesday #89 - Toddler spatial awareness

Under the chair

On top of the chair

Forward roll into the sponge pit

Wordless Wednesday #86 - Tiny gymnast fun

Movie Clip Monday #17 - Backwards bear walk turns into leopard crawl

The Toddler has to do a backwards bear walk on feet and hands, but it soons turns into a backwards leopard crawl at the Tiny Tumbles gymnastics on Saturday.

Lending Tasneem's at MumDrum Movie Clip Mondays.


Related posts:
Fun in the sponge pit this morning
Movie Clip #9 - Tiny Gymnast in leotard