Jump, Jump

It was a exhibition of epic proportions, the culmination of months of hard work and early Tuesday mornings, quite a collection of jumproping skill, and the complete highlight of the week! 

Such a cool pic...

Gettin' into it...

Friday afternoon, we attended The First Little Nguyen's jump rope assembly. Last year as a second grader, he began practicing with the jump rope team at his school. Every Tuesday morning, he would happily head to school a whole half-hour early just to practice with the team.



Off the ground...



Catching his breath

THIS year, however, was a turning point, and as a third grader he was able to formally join the team! Those early Tuesday morning practices continued, and since he seems to be so heavy on the characteristics he inherited from me, one would think it would have been difficult to drag him out of bed those days.  But, it wasn't.  We watched in near disbelief as this child, always full of drama, stumbled to the breakfast table on jumprope days.  Although bleary-eyed and often shivering on cold, winter mornings, he was virtually without complaint.  Being made in the image of his mother, one would think he would be full of choice words about exercising in the "wee" hours of the morning.  But, no.  Tuesday mornings were always good mornings, no matter what side of the bed he woke up on.  He was one committed jumper!



Concentrating...



Double under!

The P.E. teacher at his school is also one committed lady.  She runs the jumprope team, enthusiastically gathering them in on those early Tuesday mornings, simply because she likes to teach.  She believes in promoting healthy activities and shows the kids how to have fun while doing them.  She has all sorts of cool music, helps small groups of kids create routines that highlight their skills, and then somehow gives them enough confidence to do it on stage.  She teaches perseverance, and what it looks like to keep on keepin' on when you mess up in front of an audience.  (Isn't that such a great life lesson?)  And she does these things for absolutely no extra pay, not because she has to, but because she wants to.  The kids feel so good about what they can do by the end of the school year that they don't hesitate to perform for parents and the entire school.  They even performed for Kindergarten Orientation!



In a bit of a tangle!



Waaayy off the ground!

The First Little Nguyen and four of his friends created a routine set to the Mission:  Impossible theme song.  They jumped together for awhile, and then each took solo turns to showcase their strengths.  Who knew my son could do, among other things, double under?  I don't think I was ever able to do double under.  And he did it.  Twice.  Without messing up.  How COOL is THAT!?



End of the routine...a pleased look!

We did see a teensy bit of drama as he exited the stage and headed to the rear of the multipurpose room, though.  In his defense, he was very proud of himself.  But to the trained parental eye, there was a visible exhale of coolness and a slight eyeroll, actions that might be appropriate if you had just run a 5K or something.  But, I guess I don't run a 5K in front of 200 people.  I'm lucky if I don't trip and fall while I am running by myself.  And my jumproper did, among other things,  double under -- twice -- without messing up -- in front of all those people.  I guess I can overlook an exhale and eyeroll because he can do, with confidence, something I could never do.  Where did he get that confidence?  Must be from Chi. 
Sigh.  Exhale.  Eyeroll.
The sassiness, however?  There's no doubt where that comes from. ;)