Backwards Leotards and a Unicorn

So, I coached all day yesterday, and it was a particularly fun coaching day. The kids are all back from Spring Break, so classes were full, and that always keeps things interesting. My last Saturday class, I co-teach with one of my co-workers,Steve, and it's my favorite class of the day. The girls are a little bit more advanced, and we get to work on some fun skills with them. I really do enjoy teaching higher-level skills. Maybe it's because I coached team for so long. But it is fun to watch girls come into class with bad round-offs, and a month later, we've got them doing round-off back handsprings with good form and the right technique. It really is a fun class. We had a few parents comment on it, too, because the kids have made a lot of progress. I think there's something to be said about team teaching in any setting. If you have a good team, it's so much more effective, because you can each play a role (I tend to be the "explainer," and Steve does more of the spotting), and the kids really do benefit. There has to be good coaching chemistry, though. I'll never forget when my friend Kellie stopped coaching, and someone new filled her shoes. When Kellie and I worked together, it was FUN. We found the same things to be cute and funny, and appreciated the quirks of all of the little ones we worked with on the training team. When she left, it just wasn't the same. When I co-taught in the classroom with Janine, and then with Sara, those were my favorite teaching memories, too. It's just more fun when there are two teachers!

 Yesterday was funny, in one sense. Several girls came in with their leotards on backwards. I can spot a backwards leotard from a mile away, from the front or the back. When I was coaching with my friend Michael one time, he asked me to tell one of his girls to turn her leotard around. I asked which girl, as I surveyed his group. He replied, "The one with the thong!" Haha! It's true, from the back, that's what it looks like, and it definitely can't be comfortable. The majority of the time this happens, the girls will say, "My dad brought me today," and their dads just smile, embarrassed...they don't know any better! One of the girls is a repeat offender, and wears her leotard backwards EVERY week. It makes me laugh every time!

While I taught my first class, Charley took her gymnastics class. My friend Blair actually came and watched her class, and confirmed that Charley was definitely distracted (she's significantly younger than the rest of the kids), but she was having fun. I was just pleased that she completed the class without running across the gym for a little visit! It was only her third class, and I know she'll get better. She loves it though! She was a lucky girl, too. After the gym, she got to go to my dad's house for awhile, and then Blair came by to pick her up for "Blair and Charley's Day of Fun," (I bet you can't guess what that came from). Blair said when she showed up, Charley was eating berries and ketchup. Gross! Apparently there was supposed to be turkey involved, but my dad had run out. Still, that's disgusting. So Blair got her ice cream at the mall. My kid is incredibly spoiled by all of her aunties!

After I finished working, and got Charley back from Blair, we went to the gym. My mom has been out of town, and told me to come pick up her car, so I could use her gas, because I will be picking her up at the airport. So we picked up the car before going to the gym. Guess what? It was on E. This is the second time she's asked me to use her car, and left it with no gas! Typical. Anyway, we went to the gym, which was surprisingly busy for 5:30 on a Saturday, and as much as I wasn't motivated to go yesterday, I'm glad I did.

I had plans to stay in last night, and that's exactly what I did. However, the evening didn't go exactly as planned. I had 3, 40+ minute phone calls with friends. Generally I get one of those phone calls a week! 3 in one night? I felt special. Actually, it was just really nice to talk to some of my closest friends, and catch up. Spenser told me he'd run into a family I used to coach and babysit for. He filled them in on the fact that I'd moved on from my marriage, and I'm in Minnesota, getting ready to start my own business, and I'm doing great. The mom asked, "How do you know so much about Lindsey?" Apparently the parents didn't realize when Spenser and I worked together that we were best friends and roommates. When he told her he'd been my college roommate, he said her jaw dropped. I guess it's unusual to some people that men and women can be COMPLETELY platonic, best friends, and not be a couple. I think he likes to tell people that we were roommates just for the reaction, because it's the same every time. Spenser does love to make people uncomfortable, so he enjoys that reaction! Ha! Anyway, I had some great conversations last night, and it was one of my most relaxing Saturday nights in awhile.

Okay, I've got a coaching story for the day. When I was in Kansas City, I was in charge of a preschool gymnastics program. That meant I taught preschool gymnastics for about 3 hours every morning. Preschool gymnastics is a totally unique world. The kids tell you EVERYTHING, which can be incredibly entertaining. You generally have at least one kid in each class who is extremely poorly behaved. In one class, "that" kid, was a little boy named Ethan. Ethan didn't listen. Ever. He did what he wanted, when he wanted, and usually had at least one time out per class. One day, he was pretty good for the majority of the class, which meant he got rewarded by getting to play in the foam pit for a few minutes at the end of class with the rest of the class. There is a slide that goes into the pit, and it was his favorite thing to do, to go down the slide. I was standing next to the slide, with my arm across it, because I wanted to make sure each child got out of the way before the next one slid down and landed on top of them. Of course, Ethan started to go, and I said, "No, Ethan. You need to wait for her to get out of the way." Now, my arm across the slide strategy had worked many times before, but this time, something went wrong. The little booger slid down on his back, instead of sitting, so he basically went under my arm. However, he didn't escape my arm  completely. His head was up, and he smacked his forehead on my elbow. I asked if he was okay, but he ran through the pit, like nothing had happened, so I didn't think much of it. Until he turned to look at me. My co-worker, Michael, said, "How did Ethan become a unicorn?" The kid had a pointy goose-egg on his face that probably stuck out two inches. It looked awful! Imagine walking him over to his mom after that one! The good news is, she'd heard me tell him not to go, and said, "That's what he gets! He wasn't listening." I felt awful, though. The next week, he was back to normal, and didn't hesitate for a second to go down the slide. Figures.