Home: Family Relationships: Not as young as I think I am.... Not as young as I think I am.... by: Jen Hudson Earlier this week I attended my daughter's cheerleading class. She is only five and the class is for children in kindergarten through 2nd grade. Her cheerleading school had a "sneak peek" night where the parents were encouraged to stay and particpate in the class. My mental lightbulb did go on and I did try to not attend. My daughter's big brown eyes lured me in and assured me that it wold be fun! :) Plus all of the other mommies were staying, some in worse shape than me, some much older than me, so how bad could it be? The stretching was not so bad, except that my former baby weight belly prevented me from putting my elbows on the floor and from touching my toes easily. Looking around at the other parents, it did not seem as though I was performing out of the norm. We learned how to do a small variety of cheerleading jumps and that really got me feeling great. My jumps were not pretty, but they sure got the blood flowing! Then came the tumbling.... It started with forward somersaults. Most of my friends were trying the somersaults without much hesitation. Crouching down so far and rolling over did not seem to be a lot of fun for me. Because of my instant gut hesitation, I chose to skip the forward rolls. When the cartwheels started I tried to hide behind my one year old son that I was toting around. My daughter looked at me with those eyes and promised me that she would help me. I was instantly thrown back to my childhood days when I would spend lazy summer days tumbling across our yard. How bad could it be? I passed the baby to a friend who had already successfully completed her cartwheel. I readied myself and off I went. I envisioned straight legs sweeping through the air with a graceful landing. What I got was a tough landing with several pops coming from my knee. I could not stand after my performance as the pain was excruciating. I hobbled to the corner where my friends and baby awaited me. I was able to stand myself up, but the pain was soooo bad. I chose to not participate in the back handspring portion of the class, my poor body had had enough. After the class, as we were riding home I asked my daughter,"Did mommy do a pretty cartwheel?" She replied, "no." I started quizzing her about whether or not my legs were straight, did they go up in the air? She responded with,"My cartwheels are better than yours." Aside from her competitive drive, she could have let me go down with some dignity. So not only am I suffering physically, but the mental anquish and embarassment have me thanking my lucky stars that we do not have to go to cheerleading this week because of the holiday (I am so thankful for Thanksgiving!). All of my friends and family, keep asking, "What were you thinking?" I was thinking that I could make my daughter proud and prove that 20 plus years has not dampened my ability to tumble. Instead of being the tumbling marvel I am the mommy who tore up her knee during cheerleading class because she forgot how old she was. About the Author Jen Hudson is a stay at home mom with four children (6,5,3,1).