Legacy Center Gymnastics

Sofia has been going to gymnastics twice a week at the Lehi recreation center since December per her wishes. On her first day, we got there early and she met another little girl with whom she made friends with right away. They compared their gymnastics skills, hoping around on one foot, and their gymnastics attire. After a few minutes, more kids started trickling in. Sofia's new little friend took a place on one of the mats forming a semi circle on the floor. Sofia followed and took a place right beside her. They were giggling with delight. For some reason, Sofia left her spot for a minute and another little girl, seeing how much fun it was to sit there, took her place. When Sofia returned, she was quite upset and started recoiling from the group. I tried to coax her to take another seat and call her friend over but she was just frozen with her hand clutched up to her mouth.

It was bitter sweet seeing how quickly and easily she had made friends with this little girl and how excited she was to participate in her new gymnastics class to then see her outcast herself from the group. Luckily, the little friend took it upon herself to bring another mat next to her and call Sofia over to it. Sofia was happy again, but the confidence wasn't there. Unfortunately, they didn't end up together when they broke off into smaller groups but Sofia seemed to enjoy herself following directions and cautiously trying new things.


Sofia and her new friend were together in a few more classes but eventually, the friend stopped coming. Sofia hasn't made any new friends like this in her class since. At the beginning of the class, there is a stretching period for which Sofia usually refuses to participate (she has slowly improved). Then they sit around in a close circle with feet in the center and sanitize their hands. Sofia is always sticking out of the circle. Next, they separate into groups of 4-6 and rotate through three different activities on the floor by marching in a line from one area to the other. Sofia usually gets picked last and ends up at the back of the line whether by choice or by attitude. She doesn't allow anyone to touch her and she doesn't touch the other kids when they form a train putting their hands on the shoulders of the child in front of them. Once its Sofia's turn to try out the activity at hand, she readily participates.


It makes me a bit sad to see that her behavior stands out from everyone else's. I don't mind her being an independent thinker, if fact, I encourage it. I don't even want her to be like everyone else but in a positive way not a negative way. It's the outcast effect of her behaviour that bothers me. She's either the class clown that everyone wants to be around or it's nothing at all. I'd like her to be a bit more regular when it comes to getting along with other kids, instead of one extreme or the other. But she seems to want to seek the most attention by being the favorite or by calling attention to herself by not participating. She doesn't seem to want to be just regular and get regular attention. I wish I could figure out a way to steer her in the right direction but I feel more and more, that she has set her own path and she's sticking to it.


It's probably for all of these reasons that I hadn't taken pictures of her doing gymnastics, but on this day, Tia Marcela stopped by to watch her from the viewing area above, where I sit with Marcelo and sometimes Autumn. Sofia was excited over the special occasion. In fact, when I went to drop her off, she told me she wanted to come upstairs with us instead. As if, in her mind, she's the one missing out. I had to convince her to go in the class, that we were all here to see her, that there was nothing better going on upstairs with us. Finally, she relented. She kept looking up to see if Tia Marcela was there and when she finally spotted her while doing the balance beam, she looked up with her gleaming smile full of pride.