Here is the truth. You are too old to be still sitting in a small room with a large glass window watching your daughter fly through the air, trying to interpret every grimace wondering if the swagger is a John Wayne thing or the hip injury flaring up again. You have been doing some version of this for about a decade now . In the hours spent driving to the far reaches of southern california, spending a tense 5 hours on the edge of your chair and driving back again you could have learned a new language, mastered hip hop dancing or improved your tennis game immeasurably. So as you laugh with the other mom's (there are two dads but they don't join the coffee clatch glued to the window) and worry and say a short silent prayer, please no injuries, you wonder, why am I here?
But in the car ride home there are lots of laughs, a replay of bloopers, competitive spirit bubbling up and the grimaces of before are forgotten. I wouldn't say I encouraged this sport or perhaps I did at first but then when confronted with the ear piercing music, the clothing (or for some squads the lack of clothing), the tumbling free with the occasional collision, the eye make up that would make a drag queen proud, well I wondered, how did I an educated woman, a neo-feminist of sorts, end up dedicating my weekends to this sport that sprung from that most quintessenially all-American of activities, cheerleading? Do they even have cheerleaders at soccer in England, or cricket in India? Doubt it! So count on the old USA to take a little sis boom bah and turn it into something bigger, badder and definitely harder and pure adrenaline and competition. Competitive cheer, a phrase that would have sounded like an oxymoron 2o years ago, is now one of the fastest growing sports in America, and apparently also one of the highest causes of injuries among adolescent girls as well.
So back to the original question, why am I here? Because my daughter isn't just good at this, she's is really good, and she likes being really good at something, because don't we all like being really good at something. And because I love her, watching her do the thing that she is good at is one of the most enthralling shows of all. I may not know a standing full from a whatever but I'll be there cheering her on again next Sunday , saying my prayers, win or lose, for those two minutes of glory.
