cheerleader | Lessons from my daughter

Today was the day!

Emily’s first cheer competition!

She woke-up at 1am feeling nervous and wanting her phone so she could listen to music!

I truly don’t know if she slept again but at 6:30am when I went in to wake her up, she was awake!

Before her performance, I went out back to see how Emily was doing, one of the other mom told me how Emily gave an interview to our local newspaper. Apparently, when the mom told Emily she did good on the interview, Emily replied; “Well, that wasn’t my first time!” LOL, that’s my girl!

The videographer (Jonathan) was a little shaky but here is our team’s performance! Keep your eyes on Emily at the end of the video, she wipes her eyes, I think the emotions of what they just did in from of a big crowd got to her. 🙂

Emily’s team’s performance on YouTube

And here are some pictures, these smiles tell the story better than I can.

We got there around 8:30am, left for lunch than returned. Awards were at 4:30ish

Emily got an award!

Look at her and B. holding their banner!

Our girls were so happy!

Thank you again to our coaches (Megan, Chloe and Celine) and to Julie who’s always there to fill in and help with the routine.

Thank you Cheer Olympia

Thank you for creating this opportunity for our girls.

One of our girl has epilepsy. She was nervous this morning and by the time she got to the coliseum, she already had 2 seizures and had another one while waiting to perform. Her mom calls them mild seizures. I don’t know how familiar you are with seizures but in my mind (someone who doesn’t know much about seizures), I can’t fathom going to compete as part of a cheer team after having 3 small seizures. That’s dedication! This girl, is one of my heroes!
Another one of our girl had 2 years of physio therapy before she could walk.
This is also true of Emily, doctors and therapists agreed she would never walk. She started to walk independently just before she turned 4.
One of our girl who is full of spirit, really flirty and sassy, needs one of our coach to hold her during the performance but this doesn’t stop her. She is a huge part of this team.
Another girl, who’s becoming a real friend to Emily, has attended her younger sister’s cheer competition for years… Now, her sister is there, cheering for her. She loves cheer so much that she joined 2 teams! How’s that for dedication!
- Emily and B cheered super loud for her when she took the floor with her other team. The smile on her face was awesome when she saw her teammates cheer for her.

Our girls are amazing and I am so glad they have found their cheer club!

Next competition is in 2 weeks and it’s away! Our hotel room is booked and we are getting excited for a road trip with our team!

Is this how the hockey mom and other cheer parents feel? It’s like we’ve entered an alternate dimension where our girls are integral parts of a team? Where they contribute, chat, share meals and now go on a road trip?!?!

My eyes are tearing up, just writing this, which makes it hard to type!

The motherhood thing has really turned me into a crying mess.

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I told you before about Emily’s desire to be a cheerleader… if you recall, our first attempt wasn’t successful and our second attempt looked somewhat promising but didn’t quite made my girl feel like a cheerleader.

You can read a little about those attempts in one of my older post: To be a cheerleader

Over the last year, the same club where we tried that second time, moved into their own gym and added classes. This summer they decided to give themselves another chance at creating a team of kids with various abilities.

Emily wasn’t sure she wanted to try… Actually I believe she said she couldn’t be a cheerleader.

That broke my heart as although I know she might not be a top cheerleader ( I certainly wasn’t cheerleader material at her age) I feel she deserves a fair shot at it. I feel quite strongly that she should be allowed to try and have fun.

Entered the new and improved Cheer Olympia

Emily’s cheer team is 2 other girls with special needs and 3 coaches. All 6 girls are around the same age and they all look like they are having a blast.

Emily feels so comfortable and included that she made a painting for the gym.

Her team are the Pillars and this is Colleen with Emily’s painting! It is displayed at the gym, which makes Emily really happy.

Now that my girl is a happy cheerleader and that the gym has confirmed that they are not only continuing but also expanding their program in the fall, Emily asked if “we” could make cheer bows for her team!

We…

I always fall for the we, when in theory, I should know by now that it means, I will do it, whatever “it” is.

We in our house means me!

We looked-up a you tube video and went to get supplies!

The most important step in making cheer bow, is the first one! Pour yourself a glass of wine and gather the supplies!

Our (my) project was a no-sow project as I don’t sow. And as a disclaimer, I am not crafty!

Please enjoy the pictures showing the steps, including the moment, we officially became just me 🙂

Beginners mistake #1. Verify that you buy enough ribbon. One of our roll was shorter…..

Off to the store we went. Again!

Somehow when we returned, Emily was more interested in her book than in helping. That is the official moment when this became my project!

Beginner mistake #2. Don’t use newspaper, use parchemin paper… paint and glue on thin ribbon ends up sticking to newspaper… I guess I should have known that!