MAG Does your son tell you anything about practice?

[RTT2]

My expectations may be skewed, because my daughter has always told me everything about how practice is going, exactly where she is with every single skill- I get a complete rundown after practice. DS doesn't really tell me anything. "It was fun." "We did stuff." He loves gymnastics and seems to be really happy while he's there, but I have no idea how anything is going. His gym chose not to compete this year, so I haven't seen his skills in a long time, but he did skip a level. I don't know if it's a boy thing vs a girl thing, or just a personality difference. I'm happy as long as he's happy, but between hearing nothing from him and nothing from his coaches I have no idea if he's doing well and I can't even guess what level he will compete next year.

 

[skschlag]

That has to be hard! SOme days, my son has a lot to say, with accompanying videos, others, not as much. Sometimes I get "it was rough" and that is it. However, mine does love to talk, and will often give me the footnotes version of practice.

So glad he is happy and cannot wait to hear what he does next season! It has to be so hard not competing at all this year!

 

[RTT2]

The MAG group here is great, and check our Our Flippin' Boys on FB.

That has to be hard! SOme days, my son has a lot to say, with accompanying videos, others, not as much. Sometimes I get "it was rough" and that is it. However, mine does love to talk, and will often give me the footnotes version of practice.

So glad he is happy and cannot wait to hear what he does next season! It has to be so hard not competing at all this year!

He's 11, so maybe I'll get more as he's older, but for now I feel completely in the dark. He loves gymnastics, but he doesn't talk about it at all outside of the gym. I don't hear much from the coaches, so I have no idea what is going on. We were told that the compulsory levels are changing next year, but I'm not even sure if he'll still be doing compulsories or if he'll be in optionals by next season.

 

[skschlag]

He's 11, so maybe I'll get more as he's older, but for now I feel completely in the dark. He loves gymnastics, but he doesn't talk about it at all outside of the gym. I don't hear much from the coaches, so I have no idea what is going on. We were told that the compulsory levels are changing next year, but I'm not even sure if he'll still be doing compulsories or if he'll be in optionals by next season.

Yeah. Everything is changing this summer, after nationals Keep us posted on what he is doing! Cannot wait to hear more!

 

[Pigeon]

Now that he is older my son generally gives a running commentary on his practice (in the car on the way home). I think it helps him mentally "unpack" his practice. When he was younger he liked to give ratings out of 10, and that would usually lead to him talking more about practice!

 

[Cheryl]

Nope, nothing other than “practice was fine”. Pre COVID I often got to watch some practice before I picked him up, but now, no parents in gym. We didn’t do any virtual competitions, and I don’t even know what level he is, because there hasn’t been a competition.

He does tell me he is working on new skills, but I have no idea what they are because the skills have names. Not like when he was younger and I could ask about giants, pirouettes, and twists.

 

[GYM0M]

Not just a boy thing, my dd is 15. Typical conversations after I pick her up.
Me: “So, how was your day?”
Her: “Good”
Me: “What did y’all work on?”
Her: “Stuff”
Me: “What kind of stuff?”
Her: “Gymnastics stuff”
And that’s when I change the subject to anything else, lol. She recently got a new banner. Did she tell me or my husband? Nope. Why? We didn’t ask.......

 

[gymisforeveryone]

We once had a talk with my teen age gymnasts (I'm the coach, not a parent) about what kind of involvement and encouragement they would like the most from their parents.

They all said that they love it when the parents are interested about their sport and how they are doing at practice, but they just hate to answer any questions right after practice. They said they are tired and hungry and if something didn't go well, they don't want to talk about it right away. They said they would like it better if those questions about what they are working on at practice etc would be asked at some other time when they are already on good mood. They also said that they don't like parents asking too many questions about competitions, because that makes them stress about them more.

So I forwarded this info to the parents. I really hope that the parents took it in a good way!

 

[3gymnastmom]

Great question. I think it’s more a personality thing. My oldest gymnast is very quiet/introverted and I felt like the least informed parent for years. Learning anything about practice or anything about gymnastics was like pulling teeth. That’s one of the reasons why I joined this forum...wish I would have found it years prior. My other two younger gymnasts (boy/girl twins) share a lot more...quite a bit actually. Sure would have been nice to have had the ones that share more be the oldest, but that wasn’t the case.
I like what gymisforeveryone shared about his experience as a boys coach and boys feedback. Good to know.

 

[springsforlegs]

Nope, nothing other than “practice was fine”. Pre COVID I often got to watch some practice before I picked him up, but now, no parents in gym. We didn’t do any virtual competitions, and I don’t even know what level he is, because there hasn’t been a competition.

He does tell me he is working on new skills, but I have no idea what they are because the skills have names. Not like when he was younger and I could ask about giants, pirouettes, and twists.

Yeah, my son is 100% the same way, it was fine I did well.
I do get to watch online, so I then ask follow-up questions about skills and what he did.
Although this week (the first week after regionals) he has asked me if I saw this new skill and that new skill.

 

[JBS]

We have the same conversation every Wednesday when I pick him up from the gym.

I say... "Did you do that spinning thing on the pommel chicken today... or did you sit on it again like at the meet?"

He says... "DAAAAAAAD!... why are you so mean?"

Yep... I'm a coach... that's the real conversation we have.

 

[gymboymom]

I have settled into a nice routine after practice with my teen son. He gets in the car, tells me what events they did that day and 1 skill he worked on each event. I pretty much ask no questions, except maybe "how did that go?" If he has a video then sometimes he is excited to share. Then I leave him alone as we are both happy.

 

[profmom]

I get very, very little. But last week I got a video of a double back onto a mat in the pit, which was a surprise. Once they're driving themselves, you can't even count on the occasional chatty mood post-practice leading to some conveyance of information.

 

[MyBoysFlip]

I ask - "how was practice?" He says - "OK" and then does whatever it is kids do on their phones - mostly reply to emails & hatch dragons I think. Once in a while - I get gossip on his teammates social lives and I did get to overhear a phone call from his friends who were at an AP study session the other day. Our other conversation is about when he's going to start driving on an actual road.... apparently not in the near future - cars go too fast!

 

[jamieintexas]

When he was little he never told me anything. I coached girls in the same gym and he would come home and tell his dad about it. He and I are in different gyms now. Every night he comes home and tells me everything but he refuses to video it to show me. He drives me crazy.

 

[Cheryl]

I asked my son today what new skills he had and what he’s working on. I haven’t seen practice since last year, and he didn’t compete this year. He rolled his eyes at me and didn’t answer. Told him I would watch him at practice one day. At this point, I’m really curious. So maybe I will watch a practice just to see. Last year he was Level 9 and on the verge of getting some good things, but I now know nothing. Time to come watch no matter how much it embarrassed him.

Just part of puberty I guess, before COVID, I picked him up inside the gym, saw the other parents and just watched the last 10 minutes. Now it’s like a secret society because parents wait in the parking lot.