The Gymnast

The gymnastics experiment is wildly popular. I'm only wondering about what Mason thinks gymnastics is. He seems to be connecting with the skateboarders, snowboarders, freerunners, martial artists, and bmx dare devils on TV instead of the chipper, flippy, sparkling girls aspiring to stick a round off, back handspring into a full twisty thingy at the gym.

The good thing is, there is a local parkour group who practices at his gym. The bad thing is, there is a local parkour group who practices at his gym. If you're familiar with parkour and you are a mother, you understand my dilemma. Mason is obviously only permitted to observe these dynamos. But encouraging this type of sport is a little like encouraging your child to run with the bulls.


Parkour is sport. It's using your body, being fit, and doing what you think is cool -- not what others might value. A philosophy this mother can endorse. Parkour in some applications is jumping around in public spaces, bouncing off handrails, flying leaps across city scapes, dropping 20 feet or more and rascaling away into a handstand on an I-beam -- physically challenging moves which can look very showy, but also be hazardous. Something that arrests this mother's heart.
In reality, he's 4. He might forget about this when summer tennis starts.

Then again, he might not.


And just for fun... check out this photo. Taken directly after his first ride on the flying harness (picture up top). They unbuckled him and he fell back on the mat and said, "That was awesome!"