Thinking Allowed: Cheerleading

Sometimes I envy cheerleaders. They ooze exuberance and energy. Their smiles are constant and beaming. They exude energy- their dance moves are fast and never ending, they jump up and down constantly, their hips move more consistently than a metronome. Even their perfectly tapered ponytails bounce rhythmically. All this energy to encourage a team to succeed. These cheerleaders are all support and no ego. Their sport is support and energy. And so I envy them. I want my hair to bounce but it just lies frizzy and limp. But, that’s alright because the efficiency of my gait is good for other purposes so I have always figured I could leave the cheerleading to those who are better suited. Except it turns out that there is a large part of parenting that is just cheerleading. Coaxing kids to eat breakfast, to walk, to clean, to sing (well maybe not that one) requires that same enthusiasm and energy that I am ill prepared for.

My parents still joke about how much I liked the Laker girls (‘dancing girls’ as I called them) as a young child. It probably partly had to do with basketball not being that interesting for a six year old. But, I also think it had nothing to do with wanting to dance myself but rather with my awe at how much energy and enthusiasm other people could have. Their five minute dances had more emotion and shrieking than I ever possessed.

As we gear up to start a new long walking adventure I am thinking about the energy of the ‘dancing girls’ lustily. I fear for my lack of cheerleading skills and hope my children will walk enthusiastically despite my limp hair and muted gait.