Flipping Awesome
Proud Parent
- Dec 9, 2016
- 15
- 16
I'm in need of some guidance. Despite having had a fairly successful season of Xcel Gold and recently scoring out of L4, my DD's confidence is at an all time low. She has had a lot of soreness, a lot of frustration with skills coming and going or not improving appreciably, and tonight she tearfully told me that she is just "too big for gymnastics." At 11 years old and 80 pounds, she is nowhere near too big for gymnastics. She is tall and thin, but she does have a little bit of a belly. I hadn't really thought too much about it before tonight, but I have noticed her waiting for turns with her arms crossed covering her stomach, so she obviously is feeling self-conscious about it. I tried to pin down why she is feeling this way. I, myself, am overweight, and I make it a point to not discuss weight in front of my kids. All she would say is that the coaches keep telling her to suck her belly in, and it makes her feel bad. I tried to get her to tell me a specific example or if any coach in particular was harping on it, but she couldn't tell me. I would like to give the coaches the benefit of the doubt, thinking maybe it is just their way of trying to get her to stay hollow throughout skills. I really abhor the thought of body shaming, though, and I don't want her staying in an unhealthy environment if that's what this is. I want to tread carefully. We have been at this gym for a while, and while I do think the owners and HC are fantastic people, these coaches for DD's group are pretty green. Any suggestions on how I should approach this?