Much of our time is spent, as a family, at Circus Harmony. With the boys in three different levels, and begging to improve upon their tumbling skills, we find ourselves spending hours in their space, three separate days a week. Emil has decided to take a little break from classes, but he is learning through osmosis and exposure; he often stretches, does his version of jumping jacks, planks, and clowning from the stands while we watch the big boys learn and grow.
I think part of the reason he said no this time is that he sees what his big brothers are doing– the cool tricks, the tumbling, the partner acts — and he wants to skip all the basics and just jump into what they are doing. But the skills all builds on the basics, which he finds boring. Ah, the tricky position of youngest brother, who picks up what his older brothers are doing so much faster than they did: the bike-riding, the scooter, the skateboard, even the monkey bars — but here, he must go through the paces and not skip any steps along the way. Some things are like that, some rules in place for good reason.
For now, he waits in the stands, taking pictures (he took the above two!), watching his brothers, playing with his little animals, reading books with me, sometimes playing in the back room.
And often, before class starts, he joins his brothers in the ring, attempting to juggle, playing chase, warming up, and joking around with the amazing staff, who always show him patience and kindness. I don’t know if Emil will want to join back in soon, but something tells me he will…
It’s just too much fun to pass up! Thank you, circus friends, for bringing these brothers so much joy!