"C" is for cheering

Oh gosh… where to begin…

About 11 years ago I gave birth to my little sweetheart (we know her as Lulu). I vowed that she would be well rounded and not just a girly-girl. Being a single mom… with no brothers to refer to… I did the best I could. While I did take her to ballet lessons and she played with dolls… I also signed her up for soccer and bought her a lifetime supply of Thomas trains. We have also been canoeing {{she traded places with her friend because paddling the boat was too hard – even though every other girl out there did it}}, fishing {{worms and hooks are gross}}, we even planted oysters to help save the Bay {{apparently they are a bit icky and smelly too}}, and more. When we take her to sporting events, she is more interested in eating cotton candy and checking out the gift shop, than what is going on on the field. Ugh!

Several years ago her best friend’s mom suggested that we sign the girls up for cheerleading… and we did. Lulu has been hooked on cheering ever since. Napmom, on the other hand, did not like cheering then and I like it even less now. True, there is some bit of athletic ability needed to cheer… but (1) cheering is one step away from beauty pageants, if you ask me, - I cannot stand that they receive points based on their looks and (2) now that cheering is being classified as a ‘sport’ we are getting more and more statistics on the severity of cheer injuries as compared to other sports {{which the coaches have been trying to downplay for years}}.

Alas, Lulu is happiest when she is cheering. So, we continue to let her cheer.

Recently, we went to one of her cheer competitions.

Have you ever been to a cheer competition?

Um… cheer competition = sitting around for 5+ hours waiting to see your child’s one 2.5 minute routine. Sounds like fun, huh?

For those of you who have never been to a cheer competition... allow me to give you a tour...
At cheer competitions you have the stage…

… vendors that sell you quality pics of your kid performing…

… lots and lots and lots of girly stuff junk to buy…

… Trophies…

... cheerleaders…

… as well as judges, people taking your money videographers, and more people taking your money photographers.

Here is a glimpse of Lulu’s squad warming up behind the stage.

Lulu’s backstage jump.  (Lulu is in the back corner, closest to the camera.)

Lulu’s squad performing. Lulu is holding up the girl for the stunt.  Don't look for her - you can hardly see her.

Lulu’s jump, as performed in the routine.  (Lulu is the highest jumper in this pic.  Blurry.  Right up front - corner.)

One more stunt.

Clearly, she was pleased with her performance.

The girls received 1st place in their division and a bid to go to finals. Drats - now I gotta pay for that trip to finals too Yahoo!!!

One piece to note, I am extremely thankful for our local rec cheer team and all of the dedicated parent volunteers. At Lulu’s very first competition, I was shocked to see the type of {{ahem}} seductive body flinging dancing {{for lack of a better word}} from the girls on the squads. It was shocking… jaw dropping… however, I think that I have become immune to it at this point.

After Lulu's first competition I asked her what she thought about how some many most of the girls were dancing in their routines. She said that someone asked the coach “why don’t we dance like that?” The coach responded, “Because we don’t have to shake our butts to win.” {{Ahhhhhh… small victories!}} So, Lulu continues to cheer and, thus far, even though the coaching volunteers have changed… I haven’t seen any sign of butt shaking from Lulu’s squad… and for that… I am very, very thankful!

Oh, and Happy St. Patty's Day!