Maybelle and the roller derby

Tonight we went to see the Lowcountry Highrollers, Charleston's roller derby league.  This was the first time I've ever been to a roller derby bout, despite the fact that I've been interviewed numerous times about the significance of roller derby.

More importantly, it was the first time Maybelle has been to any sporting event since she's been out of the uterus (we did go to a minor league baseball game when I was visibly pregnant with Maybelle, and I got free boiled peanuts).  Here's what she was like tonight:



Maybelle:  sports fan!

I find it's surprisingly moving to encounter something new like this with Maybelle, particularly when it's something she has such a dramatic, positive reaction to. Roller derby is cool for many reasons, but some of them were quite visible to me tonight:  it's a sport consisting of all women, women who are fast and tough.  Because of this, the stadium was filled with girls--boys, too, but more girls than I expect to see at a sporting event.

At halftime, all the kids were invited to the track to run around, and it was great to see so many kids, from the age of one up, running and running and laughing.  There didn't seem to be any weird gender dynamics.  Preteen girls ran with groups of their friends, weaving in and out of toddlers and grade school kids, and all of them seemed to be having such fun.

After we left, we asked Maybelle, "What did we just see?", and she said, "Go go go!"  We're teaching her to say "roller derby," because I'm sure we'll be back.