T-D-Touchdown!

"T-D-Touch-Down!" "T-D-Touch-Down!" "T-D-Touch-Down!" "T-D-Touch-Down!" I hear this all day now. Alayna went to a cheerleading clinic this past week. She is going to cheer for the Junior Falcons this fall. She has learned a handful of cheers so far and has even mounted the top of a small pyramid. She was the first to jump right up on top. As I watched from across the room I wondered if they knew how clumsy she could be. I remember as a little toddler of eighteen months, Alayna standing on top of our couch cushions and the terrible fall she took. Her face was disfigured and I could barely look at her. Since that infamous injury she has been known has "Bump Girl." The cheerleading coaches were holding her up as she wobbled a bit. She had a look in her eye that said, "Look at me...I'm gonna be able to do this for real!" Alayna's first night of practice was the other girls' second night, so she was a bit behind. But by the end of the week, her coaches she was doing a great job and they would love to put her in the front line! (Plus, she's the shortest on the team.) At each practice some moms would help and some would watch. I wanted to help. However, Miss Lanie got more fussy as I tried to help. (Even though I tried my best to ignore her.) She opened up a lot more when I wasn't helping the other girls. I get it. So we have to find a balance. I know she is perfectly capable of learning on her own. But she needs to know that her mama likes to be a helper. We have some time before her practices start up again and in the meantime she is teaching Cailin all her moves. Of course, Ella needs to learn them too.

I was never a cheerleader. I was the chick watching the football game on the bleachers. But Alayna looks so cute in her uniform, I wouldn't mind if all my little girls gave cheerleading a try. Who knows, if they all give it a try and Eric keeps up with football...in a couple of years we will have a Kindergarten cheerleader, a second grade cheerleader, a third grade cheerleader, and a fifth grade football player! Go Junior Falcons!!