Cheer Camp

Sophie is on the far right.

Yes, you read the title to this post correctly. I, reluctantly, allowed my daughter (who begged and begged) to go to cheer camp at our local high school. I thought I could handle everything that goes with cheerleading camp, but I had to resist from gagging myself when I dropped her off. Sophie was as excited as ever, practically running to the gym to get started. I walked into the gym and was quickly greeted by big smiles and loud hellos....which is fine, I sound like such a grump. As I looked around, I spotted the token injured cheerleader, sitting on the sidelines but still participating in the arm movements while her fellow cheermates (I refuse to say teammates) practiced. Another corner of girls were rehearsing right in front of us, counting their dance steps nice and loud for people like me to hear and get annoyed. Although I have a brief history of going through a cheer phase, let me just say I quickly got over it.

I feel like a bad mom when I say I was secretly hoping Sophie would finish cheer camp and tell me it was fun, but wasn't really her thing. I didn't want her to have a horrible experience, just one that would clearly lead her in the direction of NOT WANTING TO DO IT AGAIN. When I came to pick her up and watch her performance, I could see the excitement in her eyes from a mile away, the extra jump in her step when it was her group's turn to perform, and the enthusiasm she had when telling me about her day. She LOVED every moment of it and has asked me several times already if she can continue in cheer. I took a deep breath, smiled as wide as I could and told her "Absolutely, Sophie."