Adventures in Cheerleading...part 2

The things I learned at Cheer Camp...

1) Don't ever give a former cheerleader-turned-mom a microphone. You will be there a long time. You will have to stand and sit multiple times. You will have to scream after every sentence she says. You will have to translate words like "cheer-ability" and "rally" and dance to songs with the lyrics "ice cream and cakes and cakes" and "hot, hot, hot". And you will definitely want to pummel her with her spirit stick by the end of the weekend.

2) The stereotype that high school cheerleaders are ditzy, partying snobs is off the mark. (Not that I ever thought that!) About 20 varsity cheerleaders from Meridian and Capital High Schools gave up their Friday night and Saturday to come and mentor 400 little cheerleaders at cheer camp. They sweated with us, they performed for us, they encouraged the girls, and they worked as hard as everyone else. It was really cool to watch.

3) The mythical "spirit stick" really exists. And it was handed out, in it's tacky bejeweled glory, to the squads that had the most spirit (and then we cheered "We are proud of you, hey, we are proud of you!"...even though we weren't really proud, we were a little jealous and indignant that our spirit wasn't recognized...but of course that's not very good "cheer-manship"...see I can do it too...) I'm not really sure what makes a "spirit stick"-worthy squad, which is probably why our squad didn't win.

4) Coaches are expected to perform with their squad at the end of the weekend. Yes, to my shock and horror, I had to get up in front of all of the parents and football teams and perform 2 cheers and 2 pom dances with my girls. It was bad...very bad. 'Nuff said.

5) My daughter is awesome! Last weekend was such a bonding experience for Megan and me. See, I don't really care if she has a great high-V or tuck jump, I care if she is full of grace and virtue. And she totally rocked the character-aspect of the weekend. She was such a leader, encouraging her teammates, exhibiting a good attitude, making sure everyone was included and had a partner, and working hard. I was so proud of her and that makes this whole experience worth it! (Humiliating performances and all...)
It was soooo hot... and we were so tired!Megan is good at this whole cheerleading thing. We didn't know what we were getting into when we signed up for this, but we really are having a lot of fun!