Cheerleading

My 7-year old stepdaughter, Gracie, is now in 2nd grade. Who knew they had cheerleading at this age? Who knew they had pee-wee football? I am learning quite a bit about "extracurricular" activies...they are MUCH different than when I was in school. It used to be that little league was one practice a week with games on the weekend during summer. Now, it's practices 4-5 times a week during the summer and games every weekend during the school year. In June, Grace begged her father to join cheerleading. Unfortunately, Scott has very little control over what sports his kids do and don't play. So he wasn't able to tell her "yes". In the end, we found out that Grace had asked her mother to join and her mother said No. But then Grace asked her dad and followed that up, for good measure, by asking her grandparents. It worked. Grace's mother realized how badly she wanted to join and signed her up. An expensive venture...at least I was surprised by the price to play. I think it totalled up to almost $350 for 8 weeks worth of games and 12 weeks worth of practices. At first, this whole cheerleading adventure proved frustrating. Scott and I had to cancel our family vacation because Grace's cheerleading coach told us that she absolutely could NOT miss practices during the first 2 weeks of August or she would fall behind. Then, we had to sell candy door-to-door because we have NO family in the area to appeal to such generosity. And lastly, we had to lose out on family time because our wednesday night dinners turned into Scott racing from work to pick up Grace and bring her to practice and sit on the sidelines for 2 hours watching her with his oldest son by his side. Scott would get home at 8:30 pm having skipped dinner and I would have baby duty at home alone, missing out on time with Grace and Austin. It was a huge bummer. But once school started for them, Grace's practices moved to Tues/Thurs. and our regular wednesday night dinners resumed. And what changed our attitude most was watching Grace cheer at her first game. Total pride beamed on our faces as we clapped enthusiastically for 2 hours in humidity so extreme, our clothes were soaked by the end of the game. Nevertheless, it was a wonderful day. Grace needed this. A lot of her life is spent being shuffled around to Austin's Judo and Karate tournaments and practices, so much so, she has begun to compete in Judo as well. But there's not a lot of push for individualism in her life. So, for once, Grace had something to call her own, and she blossomed. Unfortunately, all good things come to an end. Grace didn't go to her second game because she had a fever and was lethargic that morning. Grace didn't go to her third game because the day before she fractured her elbow falling off the school playground at recess. We won't mention the bull-oney that occured thereafter. Because Scott is not seen as the "primary" parent, even though he has JOINT custody, the school never called him. His ex-wife didn't call either...not until FOUR days later when she was put into a removeable cast and sling. Grace's cheerleading has come to an upbrupt hault this season to my utter dismay!