The Young Mind

I seriously considered writing this entry while under the influence of NyQuil to make things a little more interesting. But, I have a lot to say and NyQuil would allow me all of 17 minutes before knocking me out until my alarm sounds at 6 a.m. So, NyQuil-less I write.

Before I get to the main subject, let me just note that today was a pretty awesome day. I attended a luncheon in honor of the 30th Anniversary of the City of Destin and, to my surprise, my Destin Log family was there! AND one of my friends set the date for her wedding next year! Exciting day for sure.

OK, here we go.

Thursdays are my favorite work day of the week because not only do I work my full-time day job, I also teach a couple tumbling classes in the evening. My "students" range in age from 6 to 15 and are all a joy to work with. Given, the youngsters have their days when their parents buy them milkshakes before class and I have to tame sugar-loaded first and second graders. All in all, they're great kids. What I enjoy most about working with them is the things they say.

Oh. My. Gosh.

Kids say the darndest things indeed.

When my first class was leaving today, one of the girls asked me if I could dress up in costume for next week's class since Halloween is Friday. I hesitated, then proceeded to tell her that I could think of something to dress up as for fun. She was thrilled by my answer and told me:

"You should dress up as a clown."

To which I replied, "Nope. Ms. Jordan isn't a fan of clowns. I'll figure something else out."

I couldn't elaborate and explain to this seven year old that when I was about her age (if not younger) my dad thought he'd introduce me to the child friendly film "IT." To this day, I cannot look at storm drains in the same way.

Backtrack a little to the middle of that first class. The same girl asked me when they were going to learn aerials. Aerials are cartwheels without hands. I told her that's a skill that they have to work up to and we will get there one day. (Kids are always in such a hurry to learn everything, no matter the skill's level of difficulty. Just slow down and be a kid, OK?). Then, she hit me with the question I knew was coming: "Can YOU do an aerial?"

"Yes, I can," I said.

"Well, can you show us?"

(Trying not to let out a short burst of laughter). "I don't think I should attempt one today. I hurt my knee a couple weeks ago." (I actually really did, and throwing a skill like an aerial would be twice as painful as most other skills because I would land with all of my weight in the leg with my hurt knee. I know it's hard for you non-gymnasts to understand, so just take my word for it. Although, I'm sure I could've winged it, throwing a skill without complete confidence in front of children is never a good idea. Never. Haha).

"Can you just try it?" she persisted.

"No, not today sorry," I said. "I promise I'll work on it over the weekend and show y'all next week. I can do a roundoff backhandspring for you instead?" I'm always one to compromise.

They all looked at me, puzzled. (They had no idea what that was lol). I told them if they behaved for the rest of class, then I would do the pass for them.

The time had come. I told them to sit on the side of the mat and I would throw the roundoff backhandspring. Of course, I've always been one to second guess my gymnastics abilities whenever I throw skills in front of an audience (even though I guarantee you that I can still throw a double full on the spring floor to this day—real gymnasts never lose it!). So, I said what I shouldn't have said and let the kids know that I hadn't warmed up and my form probably wasn't going to be the greatest. To which the same girl said (but didn't think I could hear):

"Oh, that's because she's not very good."

Not gonna lie. It stung a little. And was actually funny to me at the same time because this girl had quite the little personality and wasn't afraid to speak her mind, which I've always condoned to a respectful extent. But, it was definitely an eye opener for me and made me realize that I need to start "showing off," so these kids know exactly what their teacher is capable of. Time for me to stop being modest, I suppose.

Oh, and their disappointment soon turned into wonderment when I threw the roundoff backhandspring and got oo'ed and aw'ed. Nothing like pleasing your crowd!

So, that was my evening.

I wanted to save this next thought for last because it is special to me. While conversing with another person that I saw at the luncheon that I haven't seen in months, we said our initial "Hellos" and "How are yous?" Soon to be followed by the question of how my significant other and I were doing. I'm not going to get into details, but, I of course, told him of our split and that it was for the best. He replied by asking if I belonged to anyone else now. I gave him my usual "Jordan" look and he said, "Ohh, so you belong to the world now?" I said yes, exactly. To which he asked if I would like him to change that and find me someone. Without hesitation I said, "I'm single and working on being independent."

I couldn't have planned a better response for a character in a novel. I perfectly defined my current outlook on life with only milliseconds to conjure it. The less you think about something, the more clear it becomes.

Welp, I'm off to continue to circle the drain and shoot my NyQuil like it's Tequila.

Instead of a question for thought, I'm going to leave you with a brief lesson on grammar.
It's "definitely" NOT "defiantly," people. I just CAN'T.

- LJ