Heres to new experiences

        My daughter Paige (6) origionally wanted to be a cheerleader, I had my doubts, she is more of a tomboy like me. I was the complete opposite of the cheerleaders growing up so I know nothing about it at all. I supported her on it until my neighbor recomended fooball to her. Paige went crazy! I don't know much about football, I know the basics and that is about it. I assumed that since I have 2 little girls I would have no reason to learn... I was wrong.  The neighbor girl has played on the city team for 4 years and loves it. She is one of Paige's friends. She begged me to sign her up but I wanted to make sure that Paige would be able to handle it first.She understands that she will probably be the only girl on the team. So a bunch of neighborhood boys have been helping me test her. She has done very well and these boys she is practicing with are a lot bigger than her. She can take a hit and has proven that she can take down a 13 year old boy :) We are working on catching the ball and throwing a spiral but she is coming along. I have been out there learning with her haha. I have been told by the coordinator not to worry about her getting distracted easily they are used to it and can handle that, and that once the practices start they will teach her everything she needs to know but I still want her prepared.

        My neighbor then asked me if I had concidered involving Piper (4) in the program. I hadn't even thought of it since she is so young and cheer starts when you are 6. She then explained that they have mascot cheerleaders. Pint sized 4 and 5 year olds who are full members of the squads. They do the same cheers, wear the same uniforms, and are full fledged cheerleaders minus competitions. I asked Piper if she wanted to do it, showed her a couple youtube videos of pee-wee cheer and she got very excited. She is a lot smaller than an average 4 year old, so sports may be out of the question for her for now. My neighbor called the coodinator and told her about Piper and ta-da! Piper is now a full member of the Niles Little Red Dragons Cheer Squad! Her first meeting is today. I am hoping that this will help the girls focus and make them feel like they are part of something. So heres to becoming a football/cheer mom. Go Dragons!