WOW you're motivated!!!

So, we're in the midst of all this craziness, and even as adults it is still virtually impossible to wrap our heads around it. I have been cooking, cleaning and disinfecting for days and days. I have hands so sore from all the constant washing and anti-bac that you could skin them and make a handbag to rival any crocodile skin!

My homeschooling skills have been tested on my littlest version of me, and all the while, in the background, silently buzzing round doing her own thing is my rather amazing 14 year old....

Her life is usually super busy, school (of course), school cheer, school dance team, Duke of Edinburgh, gymnastics twice weekly, and not 1 but 2 amazing cheer teams that she adores, adding up to 7 1/2 hours training per week.

I watched her going about her business yesterday, and it occurred to me that she is the one most harshly affected by this in our household, yet she seems to be managing the best.

Her life has gone from rounds trips of 9 hours for cheer classes to NOTHING. Just nothing. And she STILL isn't complaining. Having to be chased out of the fridge every 5 minutes, yes, still not making her bed in the mornings, yes, but everything else, she is just dealing with it.

Each morning she is getting up, dressed and ready to do her school work with no fuss. She is starting the day with her biggest fan (little sister), breakfast, kids yoga in the garden.

She does her school work, takes herself into the garden and does a workout set for that day from her beloved Panache, while laughing at her shadow (little sister) trying to copy her.

Lunch, more school work, another workout, and chill with the tag along (little sister) either watching Disney + or jumping in the hot tub.

After a while when she can't take the staying still any more, and has another round of exercise in the garden ( blissfully managing to lose the twittering, copying, demanding, small person for this one).

The thing is, she is doing all of this without anyone needing to nag her! Three to 4 workouts a day, school work, looking after her little sister, all done with her own self motivation. Anyone who is the proud owner of a teenager knows that this is not usually the case and they often take quite a lot of nagging to get them though a regular day! She is like the calm in the storm, not causing a fuss, no moaning, just doing it!

I am convinced this is because she needs the exercise to keep her sane. There is a drive inside her that only comes from doing a demanding, very disciplined sport like cheerleading your whole life.

Exercise and workouts, dancing, jumping, tumbling and just keeping moving is actually stopping her from going mad. When she needs that extra push or bit of support, she facetimes her EVO bestie, and they stretch together! She is sooooooo self motivated!

I have long known that being involved in cheer gives children a great many life skills, working as part of a team, pushing on when you think you cant, understanding other peoples feelings and supporting others, falling flat on your face and getting up to carry on....there are countless attributes to the cheer life, and I would always encourage any parent to let their child express themselves through a sport (especially cheer coz you know....it's the best!)

But this is one I didn't see coming, it is so built into her, so intrinsic and in her blood that in this time of crisis she turns to what she knows. Cheer balances her, it is familiar and stress relieving for her brain and her body. Then I got to wondering, does she realise that she is doing it? Does she know that she is coping better than probably 90% of the people in the UK with all this? Probably not consciously, and maybe that is for the best.

All I can say is THANK YOU CHEER, for grounding, for teaching us to go on even when we have nowhere to go, for creating athletes with the strength of mind that they can weather any storm, fight through any crisis, and create rainbows where there is rain.

Are your cheer children coping ok with the lockdown, we would love to hear any funny stories, tips etc you might have, just comment below!