Can the sofa get your sporty motivation back?

Apparently it can.

My Netflix challenge this month was to find a way to make couple time, which is… in the run up to Xmas with 5 kids, a toy shop and a rugby and gymnastics club to take an active part in running… something of a challenge. We have, however, managed to work our way through a fair bit of Homeland, thanks to Netflix. I’m still constantly surprised to find it can  run with my dreadful broadband, but it can.

I’m heavily invested in Brody and Carrie at the moment – they are probably the only thing keeping me awake past 9.30pm (sorry Max; don’t take it personally 😉 ) (And, oh BOTHER! I have just spoilered myself looking for an image!)

But while Max and I have certainly enjoyed a curl up with a beer (or in my case some chocolate liqueur sent by a … ahem… fan 😉 ) it has been Amelie who has been the unlikely winner in the Netflix department this month, having discovered Make it or Break it, a series of programmes about a fictional high level competitive gymnastics squad in America. And surprisingly it has been useful for her on more than one level. Not only has it given her some much needed down time after a truly horrible and frightening turn of events at school but it has also given her a badly needed insight into the world of competitive, bitchy and emotionally charged teenage girls in a way she can understand. She’s a shockingly naive child at times, who takes people very much as she finds them and then is horribly shocked when they don’t do what she expects. She really doesn’t ‘do’ complicated, despite being very much so herself. And she’s all caught up in a world of “she’s always there for me” and “we’re really close” and “been through a lot” and all those insanely over dramatic phrases teen girls use. And she doesn’t get it. Watching teen drama play out in a language she understands – gymnastics – was just what she needed. And surprisingly, the gym itself which is showy, beautifully shot and aspirational, has really got her mojo back.

Amelie has changed a lot recently and I’m beginning to see flashes of what will be the adult. She is learning to take responsibility for herself and her actions and blame it less on what is around her and she is beginning to follow her sisters’ examples, that hard work and positive mental attitude will count for more than the perfect body or the perfect coach/gymnast relationship or the perfect equipment. She’s starting to get her head down and work, something I hope will reflect more and more in her life in general. And surprisingly, I’m going to give a showy, American gymnasts series some of the credit for inspiring her.

Besides, even though it is a little bit awful, I rather like it 😉

Thanks to Netflix for having us in the StreamTeam.