The Gymnast That Never Was

Two years ago, Emma begged me to let her take cheerleading classes. However, after a couple of classes she said she wanted to quit because it made her sick, and gave her headaches. Last month she asked if she could take tumbling classes, because all of her friends could do back-handsprings and flips and she wanted to as well. I reminded her that she cried after all of her cheerleading classes, and she convinced me it was because she was "only 5 years old", and she was old enough to handle it this time.

I decided to sign her up for one of the best instructors in the valley so she could catch up fairly quickly. The problem is, they have 200 girls on the waiting list, and she would have to tryout to get a placement. We spent three hours with 100 other girls trying to see if she can get in.

She is very flexible and as the instructor said, "has a great body type for a gymnast". After waiting a few days, we got the call that she got in! She was so excited and told all of her friends.

After her first lesson, I picked her up, and she was crying.

Great.

She told me she got dizzy and maybe it was too fast-paced for her. I talked to the instructor and we decided to give her private lessons so she could go at her own pace. I picked her up from her first private lesson and....

...yup, she was crying. She was also ghost white with a shade of green. The instructor suggested that she has motion sickness.

Well, that actually makes sense. She gets car sick very easily, and I often keep a barf bag in the van just for a short trip to the mall. I guess I just didn't think that would affect her in other ways.

Her dreams of being a gymnast have been squashed, but fortunately, she is very talented in many other things. Now we just need to find one that keeps her in an upright position!