Proud Gymnasts

We had our last end-of-year event this Saturday, which was the kids' gymnastics show. When I signed them up I was grumbling about how much I had to pay for the trophies, and where we'd put another bit of useless junk in our tiny house that already seems crammed with stuff. The show was incredibly fun--from the tiny 3 to 5-year-olds proudly showing off their forward rolls to the wonderfully strong and skilled bigger kids. The thing that was really surprising, though, was how proud my kids were of their trophies. They carried those things around all day, admiring the way their names were written and how heavy they are, worrying about leaving them in the car when we went into the grocery store, wondering if they should take them over to their cousin's house to show them or if it would be better to bring bring the cousins over to our house to see them. A said "Getting a trophy makes me feel like someone has recognized how good at gymnastics I am."  Is that not so sweet? If they go on to do this show every year and get more trophies, no doubt the magic will wear off, but what a memorable day it is, when you get your first trophy.