Gone for Good?

At the beginning of the summer Kara decided to take Viva out of gymnastics because the return on time was lousy. Viva was gone from home for 12 or more hours a week during prime time. She missed out on doing activities with Jake and Bentley. When she got home, they took off for karate. If you are going to be a serious gymnast, the time commitment gets greater and greater as you advance up the levels. So, although Viva loved gymnastics, Kara decided to have Viva take the summer off from gymnastics to try different activities.

Viva joined the boys in running club during June and July. She really liked the group games and enjoyed running club a lot. The three older kids took swim lessons together. I'm not sure she liked the lessons all that much, but she loved being in the pool and she is a much better swimmer now. (B, J, and V are all good, solid swimmers now!!)

Viva checked out two different gymnastic rec teams. Turns out she's already at the top of the rec class at both of the gyms. Depending on her schedule and inclination, she may or may not sign up for another session later this year. She took a dance class this summer. It only met once a week, but she liked it. (There was no tap portion which is what she didn't like about her last dance studio.) She is taking a block of three dance classes on Thursdays this fall.

And, of course, Viva returned to karate! She took karate classes two years ago when her brothers first started, but she wasn't very interested and after a few months still hadn't tested for her yellow belt. She opted to quit karate at that time. This summer when we jokingly asked her if she wanted to take karate again, she surprised Kara and I by saying "Yes!". She has been very diligent and has already earned her yellow, orange, and blue belts!

So what about gymnastics? Viva loved it, but she is perfectly okay with moving on. There is nothing to say she can't join a gymnastics team again in the future if she really wanted to. She's only eight. However, I don't see it happening because the return on time analysis isn't going to change. She can do gymnastics or she can do running, swimming, dancing, rec gymnastics, and karate--many of the those activities with her brothers. I think Kara made the right decision in pulling the plug on competitive gymnastics.