Growing up on a blueberry farm, with acres and acres of woods to explore and streams to dig in, I was the oldest of three girls, and I was most definitely a tomboy. I went hunting and fishing with my father, in addition to helping him out on our farm. My summer job every year was landscaping work in the hot summer heat.
I never played many sports — except for baseball (with mostly boys) as a child and preteen. Cheerleading, to me, was NOT a sport. Cheerleading was for girly girls who wore short skirts and too much mascara. It was for the bleach blondes with the big boobs and the artificial tans. And it was definitely a world I was not the least bit interested in. I guess you can even say I disliked cheerleaders, thinking they were stuck up and self-absorbed prima donnas.
A Reluctant Cheerleading Mom
So imagine my surprise and discomfort when my own daughter decided that she wanted to be part of the elementary school cheerleading squad.
I questioned her repeatedly, “Are you sure you want to be a cheerleader?!” After all, she was already in dance, which she was really good at. Wasn’t that girly enough?
But she had made up her mind. She wanted to try her hand at the world of cheer and become one of those prissy misses who dressed in the skirted uniform with the high ponytail and giant bow on her head.
And so, reluctantly, when my daughter was in fourth grade, I signed her up for cheerleading.
I remember worrying that her skirt was going to be too short, and I imagined how I’d make her wear bike shorts underneath it, whether the coach approved or not. I worried about her getting hurt in one of the routines — we’ve all seen the girl go tumbling down from the top of the cheerleading tower!
I wasn’t very excited about my baby girl’s new endeavor, but this mama has a hard time saying “No,” and so it happened.
There I was, along with the other “cheer moms,” picking up my daughter from practice twice a week, and sitting in the uncomfortable bleachers watching her perform at the middle school basketball games.
Becoming a True Cheer Mom
My daughter has now been part of the cheerleading squad for two years. We just wrapped up this past season last night with an awards ceremony.
I can honestly say that I’ve been converted. I am even a little bit proud of my “Cheer Mom” status.
The joy I see on my daughter’s face as she cheers with her best friends and the other young girls is something that fills me with indescribable happiness. To see her doing something she really loves melts away the stigma that I used to associate with cheerleading.
And, if I can toot my own horn, my kid is really good at cheering too. The way she moves, jumps, and dances — I have absolutely NO IDEA where she got her rhythm from! It definitely didn’t come from me (as one who can’t dance to save my life). While her father might say she gets it from him, don’t let him fool you — he can’t dance either!
I’m just so amazed at how my gorgeous girl can coordinate all those routines with the other girls, do the backbends and the front walkovers, and the cartwheels, and yes, even hold her essential spot at the base of the cheer tower.
Challenging My Previous Views of Cheerleading
I guess I’m actually thankful that my stereotypical view of cheerleading has been not only proven wrong, but also, unfair.
So often we humans are so quick to judge others because of their likes and interests in things that we just simply don’t, ourselves, understand.
Looking back, my old idea of cheerleading (and of the girls who claimed that this activity was a sport) was very unreasonable and arbitrary. Maybe I had seen too many movies as a kid and teenager, and I ended up forming my judgment from those. Maybe it was the fact that I had no interest in this sport and that these girls who actually did were far different from me.
But now I realize that it’s the differences in each of us that cause us to gravitate towards one activity or another. It’s these differences that allow us to excel in each of our own areas of proficiency. I look back and I wonder what friendships I may have missed out on because I was “anti-cheerleader” and because I formed a negative opinion about those “types” of girls. I now regret that I formed these opinions and never even gave these girls a chance.
What We Are Learning Through Cheerleading
Fortunately, my daughter is basking in the glory of cheerleading and thoroughly enjoying it. Not only has she grown closer to her friends, but she has learned lots of self-discipline and the importance of practice and commitment in order to excel at this sport.
My daughter has taught me a few things along the way as well — things that I wish I learned at a much younger age. Things like acceptance of others, regardless of their hobbies or interests, and respect for everyone’s differences and opinions.
Cheerleading has become really important to my little girl. She loves dressing up in her uniform (and no, the skirt isn’t too short). She loves doing her hair in curls and putting the oversized bow on top of her head.
Watching her perform makes this mama so incredibly proud. She loves the sport, and she’s good at it! I’m also proud that I was proven wrong by my young daughter and educated to realize that cheerleading is a very valid and competitive sport. Cheerleading has given her the confidence to always give it her best shot and to go out there and succeed. This is something this Cheer Mom only hopes will continue over the coming years as my baby girl grows.
And so, here’s to many more years of being part of the cheerleading tribe, and to being proud to call myself a Cheer Mom.
