Parents Snapshot of the parent's journey through gymnastics

[profmom]

Would anyone like to see my photo album of random handstand pictures at every place we have EVER been to EVER with a camera?

And does anyone else's son do mushroom circles on those big red ball things outside of Target? Ugggggh!

 

[AlexsGymmyMom]

Oh gee, it's only $50 a month for a rec class! We can afford that, right? Its just one night a week! We can do it!

Oh, it's only $50 more for preteam? We can make that work! It's just one more night!

Oh, level 3 is $130 a month? And just one MORE night? That's not so bad!

Level 4 is just $50 more, and one more night, oh, and that pretty competition warmup and Leo are only $400? Well it's just one time. And there are no out of state meets, right? That's not so bad!

Oh, you want my younger daughter on preteam? Well that's just an extra $50, and she deserves to have the chance....sure, I can get off at 1:30 in the afternoon to get her to TOPS!

Ok, level 5 is just another $50, oh, and it's 5 days a week? Well, she'll still have one school night off..

Oh, another competition Leo and warmup for little sister who is now in level 4? Uh, ok...

Optionals are only $50 more, and just 5 more hours...thats not so bad...How much for choreography??? And an optional Leo? Wait....how many out state meets?

You want my youngest on preteam? Well, she needs to have the chance...

What? Youngest is competing too? Oh, and new Leo's and warmups for all 3?

To be continued...

That sounds pretty accurate!

 

[AlexsGymmyMom]

Get down from there!

 

[Deleted member 15064]

Watch this routine i made up, mom. Moms thinking i have watched a 100 routines today.

My elder daughter is a drama student in high school. I spent years watching her perform homemade skits & dances. I had a saying that worked with her - "Make sure it's short and well rehearsed."

So far I haven't had to pull that gem out with the gymnast. I've gotten close, though.

 

[gymmutti]

At the beginning: "You got a bruise on your leg from the bars? What?! Are you okay? Are you sure you want to continue?"

Later: "Another bloody rip? Well, you know you can't have a pair of grips without a little blood on them. And you pulled off the skin yourself? Cool."

"Remember to grab a bag of ice to ice your knee/heel/back/neck as we drive home."

 

[Canadian_gym_mom]

Progression of beam skills:

OMG she is walking on the high beam all by herself...I can't look!

OMG she is jumping OFF the high beam all by herself...I can't look!

OMG she is doing a cartwheel on the high beam...I can't look!

OMG she is doing a walkover on the high beam...I can't look!

OMG WHAT IS THAT SHE IS DOING ON THE HIGH BEAM?!?!

 

[gwenmom]

How about? You cannot use the curb to practice your beam cartwheel while we go for a walk.

Remember the front lawn is not as soft as a mat at the gym.

Could you please sit down, I would like to watch TV without feet flying through the picture.

You can use the ottoman to over stretch your splits.

 

[my4buffaloes]

"And does anyone else's son do mushroom circles on those big red ball things outside of Target? Ugggggh!"

Ok, my boys do this and they don't even do gymnastics!

 

[Flossyduck]

Something I just remembered. DD started her first gym class with her friend and I was watching them both and also the squad girls in the background who were doing ro flic (bhs) on the track behind.

Me to coach "thank you, that looked like fun. Who were those girls in the background, they were amazing?"

Coach "those are our ndp squad. They're training for their national grades"

Me "daughter would love to be able to do that. How long does it take for them to be able to do something like that?" (I know of course that was a dumb question)

Coach "Ah well, those girls have been doing gymnastics since they were four or five. It's very difficult to do national grades"

A week later and the friend's mum is standing with me.

Friend "what I want to know is how long it takes for them to go from that (points to our dd's falling out of forward rolls) to that"

Me "well I can answer that because I already asked. Never. I don't think they'll ever be doing that because apparently they have to have started when they were about five"

Both "ah well"

Two years later I hear beginners mums point to my dd's group and go "wow, how long d'you think before they can do that" Answer - no bloomin time at all!!

 

[2littlegymnasts]

"Honey please don't swing on the monkey bars at school your hands will be hurting too bad to do bars at practice"

"Why do you have 5 pairs of socks in your gym bag that is missing its mate? "

Mom watch this!
Mom stretch my______!
Mom can I stay for open gym even though I have been at practice for 4 hours?
My hair is too tight!

 

[reillysmom2]

Here's my contribution...

-OMG Mom, I'm never going to get my front hip circle!
-OMG Mom, now that I have my FHC, I just know I'll never get my kip!
-Mom, seriously...I'll never get that backhandspring back tuck, or my backwalkover on beam! Forget about the flyaway!
-Mom, now that I have my tuck, I'm having trouble straightening out my legs for a layout!
-Mom! I will never get my giant.
All is worth it tho, when the said skill comes around, and it's

OMG Mom!! Did you see that? I got my giant! Now, if I can connect it to my flyaway....

 

[JoyAvenueMom]

Progression of beam skills:

OMG she is walking on the high beam all by herself...I can't look!

OMG she is jumping OFF the high beam all by herself...I can't look!


OMG she is doing a cartwheel on the high beam...I can't look!

OMG she is doing a walkover on the high beam...I can't look!

OMG WHAT IS THAT SHE IS DOING ON THE HIGH BEAM?!?!

Love this! I am going to have to take all these great "snapshots" and put them into categories...showing just how much our perspective changes over the years!!!!!

 

[vagymmomma]

This thread is really enjoyable - brings back lots of memories. And, how things change.

Me in the beginning: Hmmm, that flippy vault off the couch was pretty good -- maybe I should find her a gymnastics class.

Latest quote from DD: I remember when I used to watch the L8s and L9s and think how amazing they were. Now I'm one of them.

Priceless outcome: DD finding something that she is truly passionate about and loving as much now as she did from the very beginning.

And still doing handstands everywhere we go - even the side of mountains.

 

[SurpriseGymMom]

One of the more experienced gym parents told me to make sure I take videos now and periodically, so that my dd and I can look at them later in a year or two or three and see just how far she has come in her training. Dd just started team about 6mo ago (did tops for 5mo prior) and just in that time she has made soooo much progress and has skills I never thought she would have, less than a year ago... It's truly amazing to watch these young athletes blossom, not just my own kid but every kid in her team!

 

[Flossyduck]

My dd keeps a gymnastics diary. She's updated her skills list every few months, starting a year and a half ago when she got into the squad.

I am amazed at the progress she has made. Just when I think she must be slowing down I look at where she was maybe six months ago and shake my head. She likes to look back because she realised that even though she herself might feel that she's has a few weeks of relatively little progress, when she looks back she can see it isn't the case.

 

[Natasha]

Progression of beam skills:

OMG she is walking on the high beam all by herself...I can't look!

OMG she is jumping OFF the high beam all by herself...I can't look!

OMG she is doing a cartwheel on the high beam...I can't look!

OMG she is doing a walkover on the high beam...I can't look!

OMG WHAT IS THAT SHE IS DOING ON THE HIGH BEAM?!?!

This is funny. Just today I walked in at the end of practice and one of the parents told me my dd did a Front Tuck mount on to the beam. I assured her that my dd does not do that, and that she is doing a dive roll mount because a FT would not be allowed at her level and that the beams are so far away that it probably just looked like a FT.....well, after practice dd tells me that she did do a FT mount....I really can't look....

 

[amphomma]

As someone *very* new to all of this--my Little A is just shy of 4 years old--I wonder just how many of these things I'll be saying in the years to come! Right now, I'm finding myself saying and hearing things like:

*no more running on the tile (so she can "vault" onto the arm of the sofa)
*You've worn a leotard every day to pick up your brother from school--maybe you could wear "regular clothes" today?
*no, you can't just stand up and do a flip in the air (this one I had to explain very thoroughly for about 20 minutes).
*it's not Wednesday yet (the day of her class and open gym). Usually I start saying this on Thursdays.
*hearing her teacher say, "if she can keep doing those pull-overs with no fear and be able to raise her leg while she's in that bridge, I can move her up to another class...it's 'pre-pre-team'".
*hearing "watch this, Mommy!" all day. And what she can do truly amazes me. It's so cool to discover her abilities and to see her joy when she can do something new. This week it was a front-back split and a straddle press. For a kid who doesn't even weigh 30 pounds yet, she is a strong little firecracker. One day at a time.