"Get Fired Up!"

This is the new phrase we hear around the house since Kinsey completed her first cheerleading camp at the high school. This was her first real camp, that is, if you count three mornings as "real camp". She learned cute little cheer about peeling a banana and did some cute little arts and crafts and overall had a good experience. There were a couple times when I was reminded how young and tender she really is, and still such a baby to me. The first day, when I dropped her off, I had planned on walking her in. We got to the gym and she recognized a lot of the high school cheerleaders, as I have taught or coached most of them in the past three years, so she said she wanted to get out on her own. I was hesitant, but she seemed comfortable. I left thinking how weird it was that I didn't walk her in for her first day of camp. This backfired on me. When I came to pick her up, to my dismay, I was told that she got inside, saw the huge crowd of other campers (with their mommies I might add) and completely freaked out. Bad, bad, mommy.

The other time was at the cheer show and awards presentation. Her group was first. She saw me in the crowd, cheered her little heart out and was one proud little girl. Then, they began to call out each camper in her group for their certificate. It just so happens that the first name they called out was a girl named MacKenzie. My precious was so excited, that she didn't even listen to the last name and ran up to receive "her" award. Off course, they would not hand it to her and she was crushed and embarassed beyond belief. She went into uncontrollable sobs and later told me she was not a good cheerleader because she didn't win the prize (she wad gotten so upset, she did not hear her name called). You could hear the "Awwww" spread over the whole audience as everyone looked my way to see how I handled her disappointment. I must say, I held it together...until I got in the car!