My youngest daughter Rachel has a knack for gymnastics. What she doesn’t have a knack for is self-confidence. That may be typical for an almost 13 year old girl, but I wish that wasn’t the case. She is really a wonderful girl: smart, funny, and kind. A real winner in the category of Decent Human Beings.
She’s shown some natural ability and interest in gymnastics since she was 3, which I indulged. In the last three years, she has been in competitive gymnastics. She has never set a clear goal for herself, because she tries hard to stay out of the limelight. She does very well, running second to the superstar on the team. She’s good with being second banana, but she’s not good with accepting accolades for her accomplishments.
She surprised me last month by declaring she wanted to compete at State Individuals on bars. She set her mind to it, and qualified. We celebrated that accomplishment, and just told Rachel to do her best at Individuals. She is on the young side of her age group, so the expectation that she would place was low. Plus she wasn’t doing some of the fancy moves that other gymnasts in her age group would do. She was proud to have met her goal. It was so good to see that boost to her self-esteem.
At Individuals, she blew us away. She got her highest score of the season on bars with her simple but very clean routine. She finished 4th in her age group, and looked proud of herself on the podium. We sang the appropriate Queen songs at the top of our lungs on the way home. We called her “Champion” and did not receive the pre-teen death stare in return.
I am still calling her “Champ”, two weeks later, and she’s cool with the label. While her awards for other competitions can be found strewn across her bedroom, her 4th place trophy has a place of honor on her bookshelf.
It is good to see Rachel have pride in her accomplishment, and to take in and accept the congratulations.