Parents General Worries - mainly a ramble

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Hi Chalk Bucket Family!

I just needed to get some things off my chest, so to speak.

Beetle's Mock Meet is on Friday. I think I am more nervous than she is.

Beetle says she is doing well. Came home on Tuesday & Thursday in a great mood felt really ready! So I went to watch practice for a bit on Friday.. she was having an off day (so she said). After watching practice, I dont know what to think.

I don't worry at all about Beam or Floor. She has all her skills she enjoys both apparatuses. She just needs to stay clean. She was getting low 9's last year on both. (And in MN Low 9's is good! LOL) I think she could get high 8s to low 9's.

Vault always was a struggle. She has been working a Half On Full Off. That vault is a 9.3 Start Value. She said she was sticking them this week, well last night she couldnt stand any up. She couldnt even stand up a half on half off... She didnt seem upset about it - said it was a fluke, but that started my nerves going.

Bars.. well... Last season she had Okay bars. Right after comp season she cleaned up her giants and figured our how to cast. I thought they were fixed for good. All summer she had BEAUTIFUL Giants! Then came the pirouette struggle. Once she got her pirouette she seemed to forget how to do the fixed giants. She is also having to do 2 casts before she gets the pirouette. She taps her feet on both the cast and the kip. So basically she can do the skills individually but put them all in a routine and it isnt great. It is there technically a 10.0 start value but probably more like a 7.0 score. And last night she only did 1 full routine. Then she couldnt do ANY Pirouettes.

I just want her to do well, I just want her to feel like she belongs in Level 8. She worked SO HARD to make it to Level 8 and I dont want her to lose the confidence she gained.


I just don't know what to expect out of this L8 Season. But then again, why am I so worried? Am I too involved? am I THAT Mom?
 
I don't think you're "that" mom at all. I think you want your daughter to do well and be successful and have confidence in herself. Every parent worries about their children's physical and mental well-being. We just have the added worry of gymnastics, too. You're doing great by your daughter. Just don't share your concerns with her. She needs to go into the meet feeling strong and confident and ready. You get to sit in the stands and bite your nails. :D
 
Sounds like you are a 'normal' gym mom to me.

Maybe she was right - just an off night. If she feels ok about it, I would try to go with the flow !!

Good Luck.
 
Hang in there. Who can tell what will happen at the meet. If your daughter feels OK about it just give her lots of support. Watching is so hard - I feel for you.
 
Beetle is a strong, confident girl she will pull it out. Maybe have a rough meet or 2 but then do just fine. Remember, very few girls spend only 1 year a level at optionals. If she did that level 10 would get old real fast when she spent 4 years there. LOL:bars:

Monkey girl and I know she can do it.:eek:

IMHO they feel the pressure when we are there wathcing whether they know it or not. They want us to be proud and pleased. What they don't know is we are always proud of them. how many girls can do what they do?? Even fewer are still in it at their age!!

Be a stong confident mom and she will follow suit. She is brave and confident!

Besides monkey girl and I are praying for you and her. What more could a girl need.

Go Beetle and MOM:applause:
 
I feel the same way.Dd also has her Mockmeet next weekend.Sitting in the same boat here.Still has not connected 1 barroutine yet.Scarred of beamseries now.Done it many times then crashed.
Bars is hard.It will come with time and sometimes it is amazing how they can pull it off at a meet.Probaply not the best way but as the season goes on I think they will get more confident(I hope so).As long they are safe.

Wish your daughter good luck.Let us know how it went.
 
Thanks for your kind words everyone - It really does help to hear other stories of stuggle.

With 3 practices to go until the Mock Meet we have been hit with a massive Blizzard. They have already closed the schools for tomorrow - I will be lucky if I can get Beetle to the gym! Wish us luck!!
 
Wanting her to do well doesn't make you one of 'those' moms. If you started yelling at her after every practice telling her she wasn't working hard enough, etc. - then maybe we would have to worry about you. Just remember that the adrenaline of competition does wonders sometimes. I'll be thinking about her and hoping she overcomes her struggles so she can have an awesome level 8 season.
 
You're definitely not one of those moms nor are you too involved. Every parent wants their kids to do their best. I wouldn't worry about it as long as she is not starting to stress or voice her concerns to you. Us parents have no real idea of what goes on in their minds when they are out on the floor at practices. We can only see what we percieve as what is happening. I am sure she will be fine and maybe it is a good thing that she is not showing the "stress level increase" of a Level 8. Maybe in her mind she is just taking it all in stride and thinking of Level 8 as "just some new skills to learn" as opposed to the "high-pressure, ok this is LEVEL 8 NOT 7" level 8. Ya know? Try not to think about it too much and let her take charge of it. I hope this helps and good luck to you both!!
 
Worrying about your DD's confidence and well being does not make you one of "Those Moms". It just makes you a good mom. One of our most important jobs, is making sure that our children become confident adults. Pat yourself on the back that your care and love her so much that it pain's you to see her confidence wain. Unfortunately for some kids.....they do not have that support. Good luck to your DD. She will do great! We will thinking of her on Friday.
 
I was just like you before dd started competing her first level 8 meet back in November. I had no idea how she would do. It is so hard because we want our girls to do well for themselves more than anything else.

This is the way that I sum it up:

She works 20 hrs a week, 50 weeks a year, only having 2 scheduled weeks off and at most 9 times to go out there and show what she's got. That's it, that's not many meets. When you think about it, those at most 9 meets boils down to actually competing maybe 30 minutes total for the year - you as a lovingly, concerned parent want your dd to shine and be proud of what she can do. When you think about it, these girls work so hard for so little time.

Go, get the first meet out of the way. Get your baseline and see where she can go from there. You want her to peak at the end of the season, not at the beginning - stay positive and no matter what give her a thumb's up after she competes!
 
It's funny you know, your "ramble" sounds like the stuff that goes on inside my head, both of my girls are having ups and downs, both of them could compete at a lower level and could win more, but they have both decided to take up the challenge and with that comes some good and not so good. Getting to compete the higher level skills that they do have, but maybe competing some skills that are not really perfected yet.

It is hard to watch and to control the internal dialogue from becoming an external dialogue with the girls. They chose their path and I just try to stay positive and encourage now that they have decided. That is not to say that when they struggle at meets I am not sad for them, but I just try to detatch a little.

YOu are a great Mom, in all the time I have known you here you have been so loving and supportive of your DD and her gymnastics. She' a lucky girl, and I am sure that she'll do great, she has her lovely beam and floor routines to anchor her and the others will come.

It is so normal to worry about our kids, I cannot imagine how it'll be when they first leave home! GULP....
 
Kristilyn, I know where you're coming from. My gymmie just had a mock meet on Sat. Now I know why they didn't want the parents watching---we'd all be total wrecks after seeing our wonderful kids fall all over the place!!! We don't have judges at the mock meet---the optional coaches do the judging. Also they tried to cram 17 girls doing 4 events plus warm up for each into 4 hours----didn't work. The 7s/8s never had time to do fx---they'll do that next week.

Even though we weren't supposed to be watching, I got there about 15 min before the end of practice and my gymmie was just getting ready to get up on beam. She said she had been sitting around waiting to go for about 30 minutes and was starting to fall asleep. Well, 3 falls later(including a bad looking one on her tuck 1/2) she finished up for the day. Ok, the tuck1/2 is new(the fall was in her warm up), fell on her bwo and something else. Thing is she didn't act all that upset. Claims she knows what she is doing wrong and just needs more practice doing full routines. Gosh I hope she's right!!! She said they only got 1 "judged" vault and put her hands down, but feels pretty good about it overall. On bars she did the whole routine, but fell going to her hs from clear hip. Otherwise said the HC was happy with it.

Hunde2---know where you're coming from too. Our new L9s did their bar routines for maybe the 3rd or 4th time and struggled. At the same time the coaches got to see what works and what doesn't---at least right now. One of our very good new L9s fell on her blind and her dismount and just had a horrible time. Well, the blind may be too much for her right now, so they may drop back to a regular pirouette.

This is a nerve wracking time for parents----I think it worries us more to see the girls basically take it in stride!!!!
 
I think you sound like a typical gym mom...just voicing the same concerns that we all have about our own DD's;)! Your DD is higher up than mine...but in dealing with my DD's fear issues, I have really had to do some self evaluation too. I needed to give the "control" to her & her coaches(to a point). I am 1st & foremost her mother & make sure she is happy & healthy(mentally & physically). When she has skills issues or fear issues, I realize(now) that I can't "fix" this for her, as much as I want too...with all my heart. But I can support her & get her any help that I can. But ultimately she wants to do this sport...so I help make that happen. How far she goes & what she accomplishes is up to her. And I have learned to be ok with that...no matter what, win or lose. I have learned to only watch practices when she wants me too. When she is "ready" to show me something. Otherwise, watching during the "growing pains" & development of a skill is just to difficult for me to watch:eek:. Just wait & see how the mock meet goes. These girls always seem to "bring it" when push comes to shove:D! I can't tell you all the skills in my DD's routines(I don't know there names, etc) or about start values,etc:eek:...to a point I find ignorance is bliss:dopey:! Don't worry...she's amazing no matter what!
 
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Go, get the first meet out of the way. Get your baseline and see where she can go from there. You want her to peak at the end of the season, not at the beginning - stay positive and no matter what give her a thumb's up after she competes!

Thank you for reminding me of this - the peaking at the end of the season. I also have to remember that they are still playing with routines. DD Changed her 2nd tumbling pass AGAIN today... Jeez
 
It's funny you know, your "ramble" sounds like the stuff that goes on inside my head, both of my girls are having ups and downs, both of them could compete at a lower level and could win more, but they have both decided to take up the challenge and with that comes some good and not so good. Getting to compete the higher level skills that they do have, but maybe competing some skills that are not really perfected yet.

I think about what Beetle would be like if she were in a different gym.. some gyms that keep kids 2 or 3 years in L5 and L6 to get the 37's.. I think Beetle would have quit years ago - the challenge is what keeps her there.. I need to remember that she doesnt care if she places first, second or eleventh.. she loves to show her skills have fun and always push for the next level... I think that is a good thing too.
 
GOOD Practice tonight!! Beetle did 5 pirouettes and even glided through one whole bar routine.. she said she NAILED her Cast to handstand she felt like she had so much control of it.. that was nice.

She didnt twist anything more than a half on vault but like a friend told me = she shouldnt peak now.. she shoudl peak later.

Beam and floor looked fine! Only 2 more practices.. she is so excited I cant keep her off the walls...

Good thing there was practice today.. it is supposed to be 26 below tonight - lets hope there is practice tomorrow too!
 
4 more practices until my daughter has her mockmeet.I think I will stay away from gym this week as much as possible(not watching her).I think she might do better without me there although she asks for me to eatch at times.I probably start stressing to much if some things don't got to well in practice.
I've been chocking around with the other gymmoms saying if she atleast just falls once on each apparatus i'm happy.
 
I think you sound like a typical gym mom...just voicing the same concerns that we all have about our own DD's;)! Your DD is higher up than mine...but in dealing with my DD's fear issues, I have really had to do some self evaluation too. I needed to give the "control" to her & her coaches(to a point). I am 1st & foremost her mother & make sure she is happy & healthy(mentally & physically). When she has skills issues or fear issues, I realize(now) that I can't "fix" this for her, as much as I want too...with all my heart. But I can support her & get her any help that I can. But ultimately she wants to do this sport...so I help make that happen. How far she goes & what she accomplishes is up to her. And I have learned to be ok with that...no matter what, win or lose. I have learned to only watch practices when she wants me too. When she is "ready" to show me something. Otherwise, watching during the "growing pains" & development of a skill is just to difficult for me to watch:eek:. Just wait & see how the mock meet goes. These girls always seem to "bring it" when push comes to shove:D! I can't tell you all the skills in my DD's routines(I don't know there names, etc) or about start values,etc:eek:...to a point I find ignorance is bliss:dopey:! Don't worry...she's amazing no matter what!

Not to take away from the original post, but well said gymjourneymom!!! It is so hard to separate and "let go" of our dd's training and leave it up to them and their coaches. This post is exactly how I feel and what I have realized over the years through cheer and dd's tumbling struggles/fear issues.
 
.I think I will stay away from gym this week as much as possible(not watching her).I think she might do better without me there although she asks for me to eatch at times.I probably start stressing to much if some things don't got to well in practice.
.

I am not watching this week either. I am taking DD's word for everything this week! Monday was a good practice - Today was just okay, I guess.. Missed floor rotation so she could finish up bars.
 

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