Cheer Mom...I am not

Today was the very last day of my #2 daughter's all star cheering career, and I cannot begin to express how proud of her I am. To be honest, I was less than thrilled a little over three years ago when she first approached me about competitive cheering, and I am totally guilty of trying to steer her in a different direction. Clearly, that tactic didn't work and here we are three years later as she wraps up a great run.

Perhaps what initially turned me off to the idea of competitive cheering was not the extremely high rate of injuries these cheerleaders sustain (obviously reason enough to be concerned), but the fear of being categorized as a "cheer mom". What, you may ask, is a cheer mom? Have you ever seen the "Toddler's and Tiara's" show? Cheer moms are right behind those moms in terms of being beyond over the top. Now I am all for supporting your child in whatever activities they may choose to participate in, however, supporting your child at the expense of others and obnoxious behavior is not my idea of supporting my child.

It is unfortunate that many of these mothers loose sight of what is really important here (in my humble opinion) which is being a team player, sportsmanship, accountability, and of course having fun. I can say at the end of these three years, I have not made many friends, and they few that I have made are clearly not cheer moms either. Who am I, however, to pass judgment? I suppose I sound rather snotty, and I also suppose you can find obnoxious parents at any sporting event or activity, not just at competitive cheering events. My question to these parents is: what are you teaching your children by behaving this way?

Bottom line...I am thrilled that #2 has become a talented cheerleader, I am happy that she found joy in what she was doing, and I am proud of her for the dedication and hard work she put into her cheering. I am even more proud of her for recognizing, on her own I might add, that she had to prioritize her activities around her academics and therefore decided to give up her all star cheering.

Now for the bragging....

Yes that is my #2 daughter (end person on the right) doing the "splits in the air" as I call it, but I was informed it is called a "toe touch".

 

 

 

Here is one of their stunts (she is a base on the far right).

 

 

 

This is their first place win at "Battle at the Capitol"

(#2 on right)

 

 

 

 

 

All is not over as she still does sideline cheering and competitive cheering for her high school...

 

 



Just to be clear (and so my other children do not accuse me of favoritism) I am proud of all of my children and they all have special talents and I am sure I will be sharing each of them at some point on my blog.