8 Lessons from My Daughter's First Middle School Cheer Tryouts
(From March 2015, when my now college-aged daughter was in 6th grade. Updated for today’s moms headed into tryout season)
Well, we made it. We survived our first big tryout week.
Honestly, it was better than I expected. Even if my daughter hadn't made the 7th grade cheer squad, I'd still say that.
I was nervous going in, mostly because of the crazy Cheer Mom stories I'd heard about people freaking out over their child's competition and pulling sneaky moves.
I didn't want to be like that, nor did I want to be so obsessed with the outcome that I spent the week strung out, stressed, and overly invested in conversations about which girls have an inverted toe touch and who can do a back tuck.
After all, every girl who tries out for cheerleader is somebody's daughter. Their parents love them like I love my child.
While I hoped and prayed my daughter would make it, I didn't want to wish misfortune on anyone or delight in fantasies of girls messing up so she’d look better.
So I prayed to keep my head and heart in the right place. I prayed for my daughter and the other girls. Most of all, I looked for the life lessons I needed to learn.
Win or lose, there were insights that God wanted me to gain to grow me as a parent.
Following are 8 lessons that stood out. While this list will evolve with time (esp. as we have tryouts with different results), I hope it helps anyone who looks for meaning and sees tryouts as more than a means to an end.
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