Special Olympic Dreams

I am not a sportsy kind of girl, other that my four years of basketball in high school (and ask any of the people who saw me play, basketball didn't like me). So, for most of my life the Olympics never caught my attention.

This year though, I was setting reminders on the TV and my phone to catch the gymnastic action. I watched it whenever I got the chance, which almost never happened at a decent time of day. 

So there I was at about 2:00 am, watching this:

Mckayla Maroney's famous should-have-been-a-ten vault

So naturally I googled "Down Syndrome Gymnast", and found this:

It may be that every parent of a child with down syndrome has heard these words: "She's so flexible! She's going to be a gymnast!" I have heard it ever since she was able to suck on her toes (yes, she still can suck on her toes). 

Somewhere in the dead of that night, this video and those words just sort of clicked. I thought, yes, she is going to be a gymnast. I have a habit of getting way ahead of myself. In fact, I started researching the special olympics, started find out more about this amazing athlete, Chelsea Werner. This girl has mad skills, and not just because she has down syndrome. I mean, can you pull those flips? Do I have the discipline to train five days a week? 

It may seem too soon to be thinking about these things, and it probably is. It might make you think I am a little out of touch that I have already found a program that you can start at 18 months. Don't get me wrong though, I learned about vicarious parenting and projecting in my Developmental Psychology course. If she doesn't find it fun, we'll try something else. 

For now though, I have Special Olympic dreams for my girl.

Individuals with Down Syndrome are achieving beyond what anybody thought possible. They are actors, writers, musicians, business women, speakers, you name it. 

Elina has a lot to dream about. 

One myth I first bought into when Elina was born was that people with down syndrome cannot do or be anything other than have down syndrome. I am grateful that I was so wrong about that.