My daughter is, at this very moment, leaping around the room, posing on the arm of the couch, and doing handstands, all inspired by the Olympic gymnastics we just watched on television. Suddenly, she wants to be a gymnast.

"Daddy! Daddy! Watch this!"
Jumps off couch.
"Daddy! Look at me!"
Attempts back flip.
"Ouch!"

My wife tried to steer The Girl towards something that would induce less anxiety in her — like swimming or stamp collecting — with limited success. From the look of those girls, possibly the worst thing that could happen to my daughter would be to have some measure of gymnastic talent. If I ever end up at a gymnastics competition, I’m going to bring some food in plastic bags that I can lob down to the gymnasts Operation Vittles style.

Comments

1. greg from daddytypes on 2004-08-19 11:34:20 wrote: We thought the same thing; Mama, don’t let your babies grow up to gymnasts. Anyway, I think that our kid, at 6 mos, is already too tall.