Sports Class!

One of the great things about living in Portland is the great quality of the parks and recreation programs in the region - which is not surprising given that Portland ranks pretty high on the family friendly scale. (Dare I say that's one of the reasons why we are here since we decided it wasn't right to make Ian take a full time gig on the Hill by the time he turned five.) Since we live approximately three seconds over the Portland city line in an unincorporated area of the jogging suit mom-wearing city of Beaverton (and home of Nike, so it's kind of like the required city uniform, right?), we are actually part of the Tualatin Hills Parks and Recreation District, which is equally as nice, if not even nicer than the Portland city facilities. Trust me, this is all leading somewhere, and here it is:

So this summer with my re-newfound full-time momhood (which is when I really started to wear my jogging suits all the time, per the unofficial city uniform requirement discussed above) I decided to start taking advantage of the facilities and signed Ian up for a couple of classes. One was swim lessons at one of the many local rec centers where they have this fabulous indoor pool, complete with separate toddler pool with fountains and a water slide. Suffice it to say the swim class was a big hit. (I'm sure there's another one in our future so more on that when the time comes.)

The second class was a dance/music class because he seemed to like jumping around to music at home and I thought, "Hey, what two year old boy wouldn't want to participate in a dance class?" Exactly. Well, imagine my surprise when we showed up the first day and he was the only boy in the class surrounded by a bunch of little girls in tutus. This did not deter me, however. Until about the fifth or sixth week when I realized that every week we'd attend class and every week Mommy left exhausted from jumping around doing the bunny hop while Ian sat on the sidelines motionless. I mean, if I'm going to make a fool of myself on the dance floor, it's not going to be in a roomful of two year olds - that's for sure. So, that was the end of "dance class." (If you sense my heart was breaking at the realization that maybe my son isn't bound for Broadway, that's because it was. I'm happy to say I'm over it now, though. At least I think I am.)

Enter the fall season. I thought we'd try again with perhaps something more his speed. And since the kid who we can't seem to pay to watch cartoons on TV does appear to go nuts when sports are on - swimming, golf, gymnastics, figure skating, basketball, baseball, curling, you name it - I thought we might give the "Little Tots Sports Class" a try this time. All I can say is - ding, ding, ding - ladies and gentleman, we have a winner!

Sports class, which we attend every Tuesday morning, is a big hit. And quite popular on the parent sign-up list I might add because the first day there were like 300 million kids there. And half of them just so happen to be named Ian, which makes things more interesting. Though, today was the fifth or sixth class and we are down to about six or seven kids - with all three Ians still present and accounted for. It's starting to make me self conscious that maybe we unknowingly picked one of those trendy names, complete with visions of him getting to his first day of kindergarten and when his name gets called - every boy in class raises their hand. But oh well. Anyhooskie - like I said, there are three Ians in this class and it gets confusing. That does not stop Ian Burpo from having fun, fun, fun each week, though.

Each week is a different sport. First it was soccer (which Ian is showing some potentially decent talent for), then basketball (also not bad at throwing the mini baskets, I must say), then hockey (a little more iffy), then baseball (which he sucked at - well, he can throw pretty well but is horrible at even attempting to swing a bat. I think he's better at hitting things along the ground...), then one doing scooters across the floor thing which was maybe luge? (not bad at that one either) and then today was also kind of random but fun because it involved balancing tennis balls in a little paddle with a net and then trying to keep balloons in the air. Big fun with the balloons and he even got to bring it home, which was all fun and games until it popped and had to go in the trash.

The two "coaches" are very energetic with the kids. I started out doing everything side-by-side with Ian (it's a parent participation class so I really wasn't being one of those parents) but as we get more into it, I'm backing off and having fun watching him do things on his own. And, I actually think he does an even better job at participating and following the teacher instructions when I keep a distance versus when I'm close by. (I see this with preschool as well when he's very reserved and quiet when I'm trying to make the drop-off transition but I know as soon as I leave he livens right up and becomes engaged - hmmm....)

Oh, and to get back to the title of this post - so every Tuesday morning when we get up I ask Ian, "Do you know what we are going to do today?" And it usually goes something like this: "Um, go to grocery store?" Noooo....guess again. "Um, go to Cosco?" Noooo....guess again. Um...go to Target?" Noooo...we're going to Sports Class! "Oh, yay, Sports Class!!!! We're going to Sports Class!!!! Mommy, we going to Sports Class?" Yes, Ian, we're going to Sports Class. So if it's ever 9:45 am (Pacific time, of course) on a Tuesday and you're sitting around wondering - as I'm sure you often do - hmmm...what are Ian and Melinda doing right now? Well, we are at Sports Class!!!! (At least until the end of November.)

Until I write again.