A strange twist of fate

As Chris and I began raising our daughters we had a vision, we wanted to raise strong, independent, athletic, artistic girls....not a small order. We started planning right off the bat and we both agreed we didn't want our daughters being cheerleaders or dancers. We wanted them participating in sports and being cheered FOR...not cheering for, of this we were certain. So we set out to direct their path. We got Chloe and Olivia involved in all kinds of sports and activities. First, they played Soccer. Chris was their coach and they had a great time and excelled at the sport, but alas, not their thing.

We then went to diving, wow this was a whirlwind time of our life. They began their training with an ex Russian Olympic diver and she was a fabulous coach. They had natural ability and were diving off the 5 and 10 meter platforms in no time. It was such a graceful and beautiful sport. I loved going to the diving meets and watching them compete. We had visions of bigger competitions and maybe diving scholarships. After 2 years we could see that their excitement and love for it had wained. Sadly we knew they needed to step back and we moved on.

Next.....tennis. This was definitely their sport. They loved it right away and were excellent competitors. They jumped in with both feet and were training with some of the best coaches in our area. 3 times a week for 2 hours and they were becoming fabulous tennis players. Again, Chris and I enjoyed the tournaments,even the ones that required travel, and we traveled. They were both USTA ranked and on their way. We had visions of tennis scholarships and possibly a tennis career. But then, after 3years, they finally came to us last year and let us know that they were stressed out. They pleaded with us to let them take a break, it was all too much and knowing these girls and their ability to stick something out even in hard circumstances, I knew that we needed to listen to them.

With all of our faults as parents, we have at least always tried to listen to them and respect their needs and desires.

So where are we today?......Olivia went to a tumbling class in October as a guest of her friend and on the spot they invited her to join their competition cheer team, so she is now.......a cheerleader.
Chloe just found out today that she made the High School Pom squad and competition team. It was such a fun day as Chloe tried out and found out she made it against all odds (she started taking dance 3 months ago and all the other girls have taken dance all their lives) We are deeply proud of them both and feel good knowing that they both LOVE their choices. It makes us happy to see them happy and loving what they do....such a wonderful, but strange twist of fate.