We are in search of a good gymnastics class for Little J. He is very coordinated, has no fear, is good at it...but is a terrible listener and quickly grows bored if he has to wait too long for his turn.

We tried a Mommy-and-me class at our local ladies exercise salon when he was 2 and 3. We actually did that class 3 times since it was cheap and he seemed to like it...although it was exhausting and humiliating for me. He wouldn't do the routines (it was set up like a kid-friendly obstacle course), and he mostly ran around screaming or spent the whole class crashing into me. He also drooled constantly on the mats and equipment, so the manager would often go around after us with a spray bottle of disinfectant. I see now that a lot of his reaction was because of his sensory integration problem, but as we were surrounded with mostly little girls who were quiet and took great joy in doing the routine 'look at me, Mommy!' (whereas Little J didn't even speak yet...at 2 1/2 and would mostly grunt). One day, when we had to leave early because he kept screaming at the top of his lungs, we just never returned.

Everyone was nice, but I knew what they were thinking: 'what is WRONG with that child?' I also got the distinct feeling that they felt I was somehow the main contributing factor as the very best days we had were when I really got into it with him - swinging him, squeezing him, and rolling him around on the equipment. That was what he needed...it just wasn't what anyone else was doing.

After about 6 months - this was this past winter - we started going to a community-sponsored gymnastics at a town near ours. It was ok. He seemed to like it. But whenever I peeked in (there wasn't room for parents inside) he was being told to wait - criss cross applesauce! - for his turn. Then he'd get a minute and a half on the trampoline...and back to waiting again. Now, that class was astoundingly cheap - $55 for 12 sessions - but I felt like I was getting what I paid for. Waiting, not his forte, crummy old equipment, and practice in a park outbuilding with no airconditioning. Yes, we started in winter, but by April here in NC the weather had gotten mighty toasty.

I thought I hit the jackpot about a month ago when I discovered a private gymnastics program in a town about 30 minutes away. We went to a free lesson to see if we liked it and it was great! There were only 2 teachers to 6 kids, they kept them go-go-going and he was allowed to do all the fun things he liked to do.

So I ponied up and paid for the lessons. $11/session. For some of you in larger metropolitan areas this isn't that much...but it's a lot for me. Plus the $25 registration fee. Add in the hour round-trip drive right before dinner and you can see how this takes determination and advance planning (can you say "crockpot?")

My husband took him to the first class and he said it was good. The teachers divided up the kids, each taking 3, and they rotated around the equipment. There was a little bit of waiting at the end, but only a little. Little J and the two other boys had a male instructor, which he loved. He told me the next day when he grew up he wanted to be a gymnastics teacher!

But last night, at the second session, things weren't so fab. The teachers were two young women, they didn't divide up the kids, and there was lots and lots of waiting and taking turns.

Little J is not so great at waiting - especially when he sees all the fun stuff he could be doing! He tried to make it more interesting - when he ran back from the vault he took a detour up and over some piled up mats and walked a bit on the balance beam...but then he was told not to...so he skipped ahead in line to do vault again. Again, he was reprimanded.

Do I blame them for that? Absolutely not! None of the other kids were misbehaving. He wasn't listening and he wasn't obeying.

But at the same time I didn't sign him up for this class so he'd have to wait and wait and wait and be quiet and sit criss-cross applesauce and be a "good boy." I didn't think that was what I was paying for. I thought I was paying for something more....

If you've gotten this far in this diatribe, what do you think? There was nothing wrong with what his teachers were doing...but I just felt like it could've been so much better for him. Any advice? Should I just shut up and put up...and look somewhere else for the next session?