Last week, our five and two year olds started gymnastics.

Surprisingly, they both went into their first practice with a positive attitude and I didn’t hear any complaining about being too hot, too thirsty, hair pulled too tight, car ride snacks not plentiful enough, nor did I have to chase the baby more than I had expected from one apparatus to the next.

The one and only complaint I heard was from Ellie after her class. It started as a whisper but by the end of the week, it had sunk in, “Mom, I was the only kid in the entire gym who didn’t have a bodysuit.”

While this isn’t entirely true, her younger sister did not have a bodysuit either, there were a disproportionate number of bodysuits to kids and just the two sporting the t-shirt and short look.

I guess they were identified as being either homeless or being so incredibly talented, a simple bodysuit couldn’t contain all of the talent they were about to unleash.

I explained to Ellie that when I was a kid….then I paused and realized I had begun a sentence no kid wants to hear the end of because it has no reliable application in this, her lifetime.

I wanted to say, if all of the kids were wearing t-shirts over turtlenecks (a look that took my grade seven year by storm) would you?

I thought of a million reasons why I shouldn’t trade in the comfort, flexibility and bathroom accessibility the shorts and t-shirts would provide but a clear shot of the boot rack at the front of the gym caught my attention.

I saw row upon row of women’s, tall boots, some with funky buckles, some with zippers and others that offered stretch.

It took no time for me to find my boots among the racks of boots from this era. The reason? My boots were purchased about eight years ago they have a small heel and are worn under my pants—gasp!

I knew I didn’t have a boot to stand on against Ellie’s bodysuit argument because like her, I wanted to fit in, I wanted to look at that rack of boots and wonder, which ones are mine instead of, “Oh crap, I hope nobody sees me fetching my 1980’s line dancers.”

Tomorrow we will go shopping for two bodysuits and a pair of boots. I might even wear a turtleneck with a t-shirt on top, just to remember where I came from.

My hope is when Ellie is one day lucky enough to have a daughter she can say, “When I was a kid, I wanted to wear a bodysuit to gymnastics. My Mom and I had the best time shopping for one.”