Our Butterfly Is a Tumbler

Butterflies flit from one flower to the next, enjoying each one for a short time. Viva is our butterfly. She likes to try out new activities, but she's always willing to move on to a different one if the opportunity presents itself.

Two years ago she started ballet. She liked her first ballet class well enough, but wanted more ballet instruction and less games. Last fall Kara and she checked out different ballet studios and found one that fit Viva's requirements. Last year she took ballet there and enjoyed it, but this fall due to her age she would have had to repeat the same class, so Kara asked Viva if she wanted to try something different.

Viva, of course, said YES! During the summer she started at Barbara's School of Dance. She is now taking two different combination acro and tap dance classes. At Barbara's all beginners must take tap dance to help them increase their sense of rhythm which is essential to all forms of dance. Viva really likes the acro half of the classes, but isn't as enthusiastic about the tap. The tap dancing is harder for her and the other girls in her class are in their third year of tap, so she is playing catch up which is never fun. She excels at the tumbling elements in the acro class. When the instructors show the class a new tumbling move, Viva masters it almost immediately. 

A parent at Barbara's School of Dance told Kara that there is a gym in town that specializes in tumbling. Kara decided to check it out. The gym is a cheerleading school which makes sense because cheerleaders are tumblers. They do gymnastic stunts without any equipment. Kara's phone call for information coincided with try outs for the new recreation team at the gym. Viva went, she tried out, and she joined the rec team (more on this in another post!). 

There are not enough hours in the week (or enough money to pay for multiple activities for multiple children), so Viva had to give up karate with the boys for tumbling. Was she sad to quit karate? No. She was ready to move on. Karate was okay, but not her thing. The boys have earned three belts since joining and Viva (who joined just two weeks after them), hadn't earned her first belt yet. 

I have to give Viva credit for being a good sport, being willing to try out all the activities that her brothers love. She took skating lessons last year because Bentley loves skating. Viva didn't love skating as much, but she opted to join the boys in taking three months of lessons. Last summer when the boys tried out karate, she said she'd like to give it a go. Two months ago opa bought the children ukuleles after asking if they wanted their own. The boys practice regularly, but Viva has only shown interest in going to ukulele night at Guidos--which she has to give up now because her new tumbling class is at the same time. Viva is still taking acro & tap at Barbara's; the big dance recital is in the spring.

We want Viva to be able to engage in an activity that she loves just like the boys love karate. She liked ballet, but it takes years of study before students master ballet. It's nice to have found an activity that Viva likes that has more immediate results!