Not quite ready for gymnastics...

Rough morning at gymnastics today. Taylor loves to go to gymnastics, but wants to do her own thing and has no interest in following what the rest of the class is working on. I was chasing after her most of the time in the class this morning, and had to take her out into the hall a couple of times today for a time out as she would whine and carry on when she was not able to do what she wanted to do. At the end of the class, the teacher told the kids that it was time for stickers...Taylor immediately yelled out, "Stickers". The teacher said that it was up to me if Taylor could get a sticker. She hands out stickers to the kids for good behavior and I got the hint from the teacher that she didn't believe that Taylor had earned a sticker today. That was kind of the straw that broke the camels back. I gathered up our things and took Taylor to the car without letting her get a sticker or stamp on her hand. When I got her to the car, I explained to her that she did not receive a sticker because she did not behave and a temper tantrum ensued. I felt bad for her because she just wanted to have fun and run and do the things that were her favorite in the class, including the foam wedge that she can do somersaults, but she was the only one disobeying and trying to take off and do what she wanted to do. I was really frustrated and decided that maybe she just isn't ready for an organized class like this yet. She seems to do better in music class where we are in a smaller room, and she has only so much freedom at one time. With such a large facility in the gymnastics class, she just feels that the world is her oyster and she has no desire to stick with the class. I will definitely keep her out of the class this next week and then decide where to go with the class from there. I think that she will be able to follow directions as she gets a bit older and I didn't put Joshua in a class like this at age 2, so maybe she just needs a little bit more time to mature and learn a bit more self control. It has been a lesson for mommy, too, that I need to work with her more on listening and obeying the first time. Oh, life's lessons can be hard!