Microblog Monday: Gymnastics Failure

We took Ayden and Rylee to their very first gymnastics class on Saturday.  It's something we were really looking forward to doing with them, and thought that they would love it!  On the drive there, we talked about how we expected Rylee to do pretty good but how Ayden would be a challenge.  We didn't think it would be a bad thing, but rather that he would just be a lot of work because he just likes to goooooo.  Turns out, we were right!  But oh so much more of a challenge than we had even thought.

We had to arrive a few minutes early to fill out paperwork and pay.  We also had to take off our shoes and Ayden and Rylee's socks and jackets.  Ayden just. wanted. to. go.  He had NO patience for waiting around, never mind the fact that they don't let anyone on the floor or equipment until the class starts.  Those 8 minutes were brutal for Ayden and set us up for failure.  As soon as we walked onto the mats to the designated spot for our class, Ayden threw a temper tantrum.  He wanted to just run around, and we wouldn't let him!  He refused to participate in the class with the other kids.  After a few minutes of him screaming and distracting the class, I carried him back to the lobby area and we sat there (along with other parents watching their older kids in another class) until he had calmed down.  It took several minutes and a trip to the bathroom for tissue since he became a snotty mess.  I waited until he'd been calm for awhile and then we ventured out to join the class again.  He participated in 2 stations of the obstacle course set up, but then threw another fit.  When the class moved to the trampolines, he wouldn't follow the rules of having only one child per trampoline and insisted on running around to other trampolines.  Again, he threw a major temper tantrum and I had to carry him out.  This time I just put on his socks and shoes and took him out to the car, where we waited while Rylee continued on in class.

The class was a total failure with Ayden.  We expected it to be difficult (for us, not him), but thought he would have fun.  We were not at all prepared for the total meltdown tantrums.  Ten kids in the class, same age, and Ayden was the only one that was out of control.  He just doesn't listen, and was so out of control!  We thought about keeping Rylee in the class and asking for our money back for Ayden, but decided we'd try it again, next time being more prepared (emotionally) and making sure not to arrive even a minute early.

At least our day ended on a brighter note, with some family time outside for their very first bike ride.

She decided she'd rather push than ride :)

Note: I know their helmets are not fitted/adjusted correctly, but this was the first time they actually even LET me put the helmets on them, so we just went with it!  Especially since they don't quite reach the pedals yet, so aren't actually really riding.  lol


For more #MicroblogMonday posts from other bloggers, click here.