I'll be the first to admit that I am competitive. Who doesn't love winning? Who doesn't love being associated with a winning team? Who doesn't love having or belonging to a team that win a lot? I like to think of the 2010 and 2012 San Francisco Giants...but I digress.
However, when I first brought my daughter to West Coast Training Center, winning was not the first thing on my mind. I wanted to expose my child to an environment where learning a new skill would teach her among other things, discipline, commitment, self-confidence, teamwork, and pride.
None of those attributes could flourish if my baby girl wasn't having a good time. Therefore, it was important to me when selecting a gym, that I watched to see how the teachers interacted with the children. I looked at the team and asked, "are the girls smiling?" I wanted to make sure that my daughter would in essence be having a good time.
As much as I had delusions of grandeur that my girl could one day be an elite athlete and possibly represent the United States in the Olympic Games of 2020, I needed to suppress my competitive reflexes and focus on how happy she was with tumbling. When she joined the team for the 2013 competition season, nothing really changed (more to come on that subtle hint). Every class that she has ever been to; every practice that she has attended; and every meet (2) she has been to; the only question I ever ask her is, "did you have a good time?"
The answer is always a resounding, "yes!" Even on days where it got a little hard, the answer still comes back positive. In fact, yesterday during practice, my baby girl was stretched a little too far by Coach Marie. Watching from the upstairs window, I could see that something was wrong as tears were welling up in her eyes. My first reaction was to run down and console her and see if she was okay, but I resisted that temptation, I'm more of a tough love dad. By the end of the practice, she and her partner were in the car and I asked my usual question, "Did you have fun today?" The answer of course was yes. What followed were some details about the practice including getting over-stretched. However, it didn't monopolize her thoughts during practice which I think was key.
Bottom line, my philosophy is that learning occurs best when you are having fun. Besides, if it's no fun, then it's not really worth doing and pursuing, right?
AMEN. As a parent who works more than full-time at a demanding job, the last thing I need is to chauffeur my kid to an expensive activity she doesn't like and learn from. Happily, she's also loving acro, even on hard nights. And I think it's great when the support system (ie, parents) can act as a team as well. Eh, scratch "great," insert "necessary."
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