My granddaughter, the natural

Vi in flight above the trampoline.

 

 

By Ed Piper

I'm having fun being a grandparent. I may have referred to this in past posts. I know that LJHS parents have shared comments with me about the joys of grandparenthood.

Two days ago we were able to enjoy watching the kids jump, swing, crawl, and everything else in Violet's gymnastics birthday party held at a local YMCA. I didn't even know children could have a gymnastics birthday party.

And to see the three-year-old bounce on the facility's long trampoline--a thin band that stretches for 20 or 30 feet, bordered by padding--is to see a youngster in absolute abandon.

Mom was the one who found and arranged the location for this event. Her daughter, from early on, showed an agility, an ease in twisting her body into the shape of a pretzel--and with not an ounce of fear in her body. Which we know can be both good and bad.

On the "gym bus" at preschool, the instructor told mom earlier this year that Vi could hang (literally) with the best of them, and suggested she put the then-two-year-old in a gymnastics class.

Thank God, Kristi does not have an East-German-bloc bent, and has no great plans to enroll her young daughter in some high-powered athletic training program during her youth.

That's something both parents do really well: let the kids do what they enjoy, without the pressure of mom or dad trying to live through them for their glory (witness some parents in youth and high school sports).

Well, this little girl can jump with the best of them. If you look at how high she was jumping on the trampoline at her birthday party, and compare that to her stature, it must two, three times her height. She also instinctively knows to pull her feet up under her as she imitates Michael Jordan in flight.

Not to overdo it, her balance and agility are things that you can't teach. They are God-given.

So, Grandpa is enjoying it. She has a big grin during the jumps, looking from every indication like she is enjoying doing it. And the latter is the most important thing.

To give her brother Luke equal time, the four-year-old can bounce, but on the trampoline he chose to run across the surface and fly onto a pile of mats stacked at the far end of the trampoline. He says, "I can run really fast." That's his big thing right now.

As every grandparent knows, the beauty of the role is that you can have a different relationship with the children than the parents. (I never was a parent; I married into an existing three-generation family.)

You can pick your spots, play a support role, and come-and-go.

Here's to the joy of doing things. Children are just children. Teenagers are just teenagers. Physical activity should go with mental stimulation and growth toward forming the well-rounded, balanced whole person.