gymnastics isn't supposed to make me cry!

the disclaimer is that i got my period today, so alll bets are off. that being said, erin is just SO far behind in this gymnastics class. it's a struggle for her to do a backbend at all, much less hold it for 10 seconds on 1 leg like the other kids. she doesn't have her handstand or her cartwheel remotely down. she's terrified of the balance beam, and doesn't even know how to climb up on the one that's 2 ft off the ground, despite her height. meanwhile the other kids are doing bunny hops & high kicks off of the one that's 3 ft off the ground, climbing onto it themselves. so i was feeling really sad for her, assuming she was feeling inadequate. and really frustrated w/her previous teacher for sending her to the next class. and a little frustrated with natalie, her new teacher, for impatience with her. THEN, natalie realized how completely far behind erin was, and the rest of the class, the other kids were on their own, and natalie entirely worked with erin. which also made me feel a little bad. but natalie was so good with her. she has a real knack for pushing erin, while also still making her laugh. at one point, she had all the other kids chanting "erin! erin! erin!" while she tried to walk the high beam w/o holding natalie's hand. afterward, i went up to her & before i could really even get as far as telling her that i think i should move erin back to the tots class, natalie was emphatic that she wanted erin in HER class, that she really wants to work with her to help her develop body awareness. we'll see - i'm afraid natalie is still thinking that it's only balance beam that erin struggles with - she may eventually change her tune! but in the meantime, i need to work with her here!!!!