Parents How to get your gymmie in bed as quickly as possible on gym nights

[gymmommy123]

So my dd recently moved her training hours up to 12 hrs a week. She seems fine with it so far, but it's rather late nights for her and trying to wake her for school in the morning is a bit like attempting to wake the dead. To make matters worse, her younger brother lays awake in his bed until she gets home, so we have TWO little ones going to bed quite late. She is at gym 3 school nights a week from 4-8 pm, doesn't sound too bad, except we live approx. 45 min. from the gym, meaning we aren't usually home until 9 pm if I go through a drive-thru to feed to poor starving beast. This week she's had practice 3 nights in a row, and hasn't gotten into bed until almost 10 pm by the time she gets home, changed, teeth brushed, showered (we even skip this some nights) and gets settled down enough to go to sleep. The kids have to be up at 6:45 and out the door for school by 7:15 am., so it's a rather LONG day (school, straight to gym) for a 1st grader. Any tips on getting your gymmie home, wound down and into bed as quickly as possible? I'd love her to be in bed within just 5-10 min. after arriving home, yet this seems to be the impossible task for us to accomplish! I try to make sure her homework is done in the car and she eats in the car so we don't have to do this at home. What do you more organized moms (and dads) do for food as well? I feel like I have to feed her 2 dinners, one before and one after, she's starving after school and starving after gym, lol. We try to limit the fried foods, but it's still a lot of take-out. Thanks for tips from you more experienced parents!

 

[Flossyduck]

I give my dd a pack-up to eat on the way to gym. After gym she gets changed into joggers and t shirt and cleans her teeth before getting in the car where she has a milky drink (milk shake, or warmish hot chocolate, which I have in a flask) and something simple like rice cakes or a banana or some nuts. She usually falls asleep on the way home and goes straight to bed when she gets in.

That's a really early start though. I don't envy you that!

 

[my4buffaloes]

My dd practices until 8:40, 25 minute drive home and we walk in the door about 9:15 most nights. I take dinner with me when I pick her up so she eats on the way home. She puts her hair in a bun and goes straight up for a bath. I usually either help her or stay up there to prod her along, but even at 9 years old when you are that tired it usually works best to help her. I have her pjs picked out and waiting in the bathroom. I can have her in and out of the bath in 5 minutes, then it is teeth brushed and in bed by 9:30. She is so tired she has no trouble falling asleep.

My kids share rooms and I deal with the same problem of 1 not going to sleep until the other one gets in there. So yeah, when one person is up late, they are all up late.

 

[gymboymom]

We do dinner in the car on the way home too. If everyone else is in bed we can walk in the door and be in bed by 9:15. For a while we did a little thing, if you are in bed by 9:15 all 4 nights we can do x on the weekend. Otherwise it is early early bedtime on the weekend. It helped make it a habit.

 

[gymmom14]

Just wait until your kids are in AP classes in high school. They get home at 9:30 from gym and get a shower and say "mom, I wish I could just go to bed, I am so tired, but I have to study more...."

 

[Iwannabemargo]

as above really.

For us, large snack on the way to gym, snack for the way home, Hot chocolate in a flask and the younger ones in our gym change into their onsies after class so if they fall asleep on the way home they can be put straight to bed.

As far as I'm concerned the odd night without a shower is fine - shower in the morning

 

[wallinbl]

Eat a good sized snack on the way there, and again on the way home. Pack sandwiches, nuts, bananas, etc that are good food and will keep for a few hours.

Food from a drive through will not help with sleeping, even though it does fill the stomach.

 

[MaryA]

I see plenty of younger kids leaving the gym in their pajamas! Not sure exactly why changing at the gym would be faster than changing at home, but maybe it helps to enforce the "straight to bed" mentality. Also, I think I would try to pack a dinner for her to eat in the car, even if it's just a sandwich and some fruit. Cheaper and healthier alternative to take-out.

 

[gracyomalley]

We, ttoo, try to limit the fast food to one time a week....with practices every night until 730 and a 30 minute drive home, only one adult in the house often picking up straight from work, this can be hard. Cereal and fruit with milk is better than McDonalds, although the kids may not agree! showers in am, clothes laid out, etc. My oldest still does some schoolwork after gym (we homeschool but I work so they still have to get out of the house at 830 am 3 days a week). We do work on weekends too and school in the summer so that there is some sleep now that 2 are in middle school and all are musicians as well as gymnasts.

DD gym does a snack break mid practice, so with big lunches, snack before gym, protein/fruit/veggie at snack break and simple dinner, I don't worry about her nutrition. The boys are harder, both because they are picky and the snack isn't a built in part of practice...sometimes little one goes to bed without eating (falls a sleep in gym clothes...)

Frankly, I love summer/am practices!

 

[MaryA]

Frankly, I love summer/am practices!

Me too!!!!

 

[shelovestoflip]

Just wait until your kids are in AP classes in high school. They get home at 9:30 from gym and get a shower and say "mom, I wish I could just go to bed, I am so tired, but I have to study more...."

I'm right there with you...
My daughter gets out of practice at 9. We are home by 9:25.
She showers and is then up until about 11 to finish HW>

As for eating...she eats before she leaves...typically fruit and some type of crackers/bread.

Then I bring dinner for her to eat in the car on teh way home. Have done this every night for years.

Invest in a divided container. Bring her a healthy dinner at pickup...it will save you money by not going to the drive thru not to mention you will be able to give her a healthy meal!

Good luck!

 

[gymmommy123]

Great ideas! I'll try to pack more food for her to avoid the drive-thru. It's tough, I have to leave the house at 2:15 to pick up the kids at 3:00, then it's straight to gym, eating and homework in the car on the way. Have to stick around the whole time because of the distance from home and eating and homework on the way home. I have to say, she handles it all quite well, except for the mornings, and she can be a beast to wake up. I would expect her to come home at night exhausted, but she's still bouncing around and it's hard to settle her down fast. What are some good dinner options that will keep for 6+ hrs in a little cooler? I do a lot of fruit and nuts, yogurt with granola, and milk. But I know dd will get tired of turkey or ham sandwiches. We often pick up Subway or Eegees, and I figure that's got to be healthier than hamburgers or nuggets. Or we do grilled chicken sandwiches. I try to limit the fried food to once a week, and she gets to split a milkshake with mom once a week I wish I could just feed her at home but she's SLOW to eat and I spend 30 minutes trying to get her to finish her dinner, LOL.

 

[Iwannabemargo]

soups and stews will keep warm in a thermos to change it up a bit

 

[SurpriseGymMom]

Does your gym have a microwave available? Ours doesn't really have one for the parents, just for the coaches BUT I know they have made exceptions for those team parents who have a really long drive (we have a few young kids on team who live 1hr+ away and are here 4-5 days/wk until late...). As a coach and a parent, I offered to help these parents heat meals up for their little ones if it was frowned upon to have them do it themselves. It just makes a difference to be able to heat up something homemade to eat on the way home rather than fast food or chilled options, especially in the winter.
I love the idea of hot chocolate in a thermos.
Soothing classical music in the car on the way home, perhaps?
I'm starting to understand that we are very lucky as our practices end at 7 every days except one (ends at 8). Sure, dd isn't home until 30min later but it's still not too bad. She has time for dinner, homework and some downtime before bedtime, except on the one late day. On that day I have a quick meal ready for her (she gets a ride home with a teammate), then a super quick wind down and she's usually in bed around 45min after she arrives home. She showers or takes a bath 3-4times/wk and we stay away from doing that on the late day, if she's dirtier than usual she can always take a quick shower in the morning instead of going to bed later.

 

[shelovestoflip]

I see plenty of younger kids leaving the gym in their pajamas! Not sure exactly why changing at the gym would be faster than changing at home, but maybe it helps to enforce the "straight to bed" mentality. Also, I think I would try to pack a dinner for her to eat in the car, even if it's just a sandwich and some fruit. Cheaper and healthier alternative to take-out.

Honestly, I don't understand not showering after practice. I see the younger girls leaving in pjs, too!

No matter what their age, they are on sweaty, germy, chalky equiptment at practice. Think about when adults go to the gym...there are signs everywhere reminding members to clean the equiptment and wash their hands. Well you know the gymnastics equptment isn't getting cleaned after each kid. Personally I think that a shower would be helpful no matter how tired!

soups and stews will keep warm in a thermos to change it up a bit

love soups and stews alas it seems my daughter finds them tricky to eat in the car!! she can tumble on a 4" beam but can't quite manage soup in a dark car on a potholed road, lol!!

 

[kimute]

Wow gymmommy! Those are rough hours; I hope some of this great advice helps. Our DD (7 years old) just started training until 8 PM instead of 7 PM so I am welcoming all this advice too. I don't know if you are open to it or it works for you, but I feel very grateful that our school has given our DD the opportunity to skip PE, which once a week means a later start to her day. We love that day. Those 30 minutes are gorgeous.

 

[txgymfan]

Kimute, I'm glad you enjoy the extra 30 min. Some of our cb kids miss PE and leave early to train, many others enjoy PE as a chance to shine in front of their school peers ( who else can do pull ups like gymnasts). I've heard no one else who has it arranged like you to go in late. Gmmmommy, you've gotten some great advice. I hope it works out, when it does another issue will pop up.

 

[luvmygymdtr]

Honestly, I don't understand not showering after practice. I see the younger girls leaving in pjs, too! No matter what their age, they are on sweaty, germy, chalky equipment at practice.

I couldn't agree more. My husband was a wrestler and reminds me all the time what the kids can pick up off of mats. I have a hard time thinking about my daughter crawling into bed without showering. But I also think it's what relaxes her enough to wind down and fall asleep faster.

 

[Quadqueen]

yes to the shower after every practice! Clean off the yuck and also start relaxing for bed.