Parents What life lessons does your child miss because of gymnastics?

[gymbeam]

I created a spin off thread. It’s a valuable discussion on its own. Txgymfan.


An excuse not to do nearly as many chores as I did at her age! LOL (and all the other great things others have mentioned already)

 

[gymnastmom05]

An excuse not to do nearly as many chores as I did at her age! LOL (and all the other great things others have mentioned already)

HA! I think gymnastics has taught my DD so much. Everything mentioned BUT I do think there are some things they are NOT learning BECAUSE of gymnastics. Household chores and money management are my biggest concerns! This could be an entire new thread based on the flip side of the original question. We all know the school/social things. I am finding because she's gone so much that I have to back off on MY doing chores for her. As a stay at home mom her entire life, I have always found that I took it as my job to do many of the household duties. I've been trying to back off the last year for both of my kids but it drives me insane to be at home and seeing things need done! While my DD just turned 14, a job isn't exactly possible but it will be on the horizon soon. I know she needs to learn how to manage money but if she stays with gym, trains 20 hours with 10 hours in the car a week plus school, we aren't pushing a job. It would have to be an ideal situation BUT we will have to be creative with ways to make sure she learns how to budget (and do laundry!).

 

[MILgymFAM]

HA! I think gymnastics has taught my DD so much. Everything mentioned BUT I do think there are some things they are NOT learning BECAUSE of gymnastics. Household chores and money management are my biggest concerns! This could be an entire new thread based on the flip side of the original question. We all know the school/social things. I am finding because she's gone so much that I have to back off on MY doing chores for her. As a stay at home mom her entire life, I have always found that I took it as my job to do many of the household duties. I've been trying to back off the last year for both of my kids but it drives me insane to be at home and seeing things need done! While my DD just turned 14, a job isn't exactly possible but it will be on the horizon soon. I know she needs to learn how to manage money but if she stays with gym, trains 20 hours with 10 hours in the car a week plus school, we aren't pushing a job. It would have to be an ideal situation BUT we will have to be creative with ways to make sure she learns how to budget (and do laundry!).

We are lucky in that we homeschool, so my kids have time for jobs, chores, learning personal finance, etc. Even when they were in public middle school their chores didn’t lag because of their schedule. Parents don’t get to drop the bag because they’re busy and neither do kids in this house.

 

[gymnastmom05]

We are lucky in that we homeschool, so my kids have time for jobs, chores, learning personal finance, etc. Even when they were in public middle school their chores didn’t lag because of their schedule. Parents don’t get to drop the bag because they’re busy and neither do kids in this house.

That's the thing - gymnastics makes it so you (we/parents) have to make sure they're learning all of this stuff. It's easy to forget about it because they're just physically not home to take part in some household activities. Especially they older they get - higher levels, more hours and since we don't homeschool, some pretty intense nights of homework after 14 hours away between school and training. Just things that I have been paying attention to to make sure she's still learning (or trying to learn) some of the valuable lessons that come from doing chores, having a job (mostly money/budget part since being reliable and managing her time wisely was learned years ago from gymnastics). I personally struggle with some of the chores aspect. For the most part, my child has longer days than I do so balancing and deciding what to leave on her plate and what I am willing to do for her is yet another thing to think about....thanks to gymnastics : )

 

[gymbeam]

Hmmmm, I can’t think of any mine misses.

Mine may not do as many chores as I did as a kid, but she still does chores. And because she has much less free time than I did to get them done, they’re much more of a burden to her. Therefore, I feel she’s provided the same life lesson value.

 

[MILgymFAM]

That's the thing - gymnastics makes it so you (we/parents) have to make sure they're learning all of this stuff. It's easy to forget about it because they're just physically not home to take part in some household activities. Especially they older they get - higher levels, more hours and since we don't homeschool, some pretty intense nights of homework after 14 hours away between school and training. Just things that I have been paying attention to to make sure she's still learning (or trying to learn) some of the valuable lessons that come from doing chores, having a job (mostly money/budget part since being reliable and managing her time wisely was learned years ago from gymnastics). I personally struggle with some of the chores aspect. For the most part, my child has longer days than I do so balancing and deciding what to leave on her plate and what I am willing to do for her is yet another thing to think about....thanks to gymnastics : )

Isn’t learning this stuff always the responsibility of the parents? I mean this IS parenting. My DD had public school from 7-3, practice from 4-8, and then homework (not to mention the brutal commute). It all worked out and it still did not excuse her from chores. It instead excused her from Tv, YouTube, and lazy time.

 

[gymnastmom05]

Isn’t learning this stuff always the responsibility of the parents? I mean this IS parenting. My DD had public school from 7-3, practice from 4-8, and then homework (not to mention the brutal commute). It all worked out and it still did not excuse her from chores. It instead excused her from Tv, YouTube, and lazy time.

I think you might be missing where I was going with this. It absolutely IS parenting. I just feel that because of gymnastics, we have to work harder to teach them these things because they aren’t home when typical daily chores are done (cooking, dishes, walking the dog, etc). I didn’t mean that we don’t have that responsibility, it’s just one more thing to try to make sure they know just like trying to squeeze in family time and a life outside of the gym.

 

[3cats]

The biggest thing my daughter seems to miss out on is family time. There is a lot you learn in the day to day family environment. She goes to a full day of school then to gym 25 hours a week. There is a lot she misses in her brothers' lives. From attending their school and sport functions to dealing with the general sibling issues that come up. She is like a shadow child in our family. Often gymnastics is all encompassing for a child and her family as well. So she is a little too used to us rearranging our lives to make sure her gym needs are met. She has some adjustment issues right now as her brothers get older and their sports are becoming more demanding of our attention and time.

 

[gymnastmom05]

The biggest thing my daughter seems to miss out on is family time. There is a lot you learn in the day to day family environment. She goes to a full day of school then to gym 25 hours a week. There is a lot she misses in her brothers' lives. From attending their school and sport functions to dealing with the general sibling issues that come up. She is like a shadow child in our family. Often gymnastics is all encompassing for a child and her family as well. So she is a little too used to us rearranging our lives to make sure her gym needs are met. She has some adjustment issues right now as her brothers get older and their sports are becoming more demanding of our attention and time.

We are having the same issue! She’s 4 years older than her brother so as his sports are becoming more involved, it’s definitely an adjustment for her. They are so used to everything being planned around them. She had a very hard time this summer understanding why our summer vacation couldn’t be in June instead of all crammed into July. Simple answer was her brothers baseball season wasn’t over until then. It just wasn’t her reality until recently. It’s weird to me when people don’t even realize we have another child- because she’s always gone With that said, I’m sure that’s why we have a chore issue- the time she is home, we want to be doing something as a family.

 

[mommyof1]

My daughter is hesitant to spend more than a week or so at a time away from home because she doesn't want to miss too much practice, which limits her summer enrichment opportunities. This may change as she gets older, her priorities shift, and she starts to understand what it really takes to get into the college she says she wants to attend.

So she is a little too used to us rearranging our lives to make sure her gym needs are met.

This, so much this. My kid has no idea just how lucky she is or how much we've sacrificed (especially me, careerwise) to make her dream a reality. She will find out someday when she has a kid of her own who falls in love with an expensive, time-consuming sport.

I will also admit to not being 100% consistent on requiring chores. Some weekends I end up cleaning her bathroom for her because she's been at practice all week and needs to finish writing a paper over the weekend.

She does say she wants to get a job teaching preschool classes at the gym once she's old enough, so hopefully gym will not get in the way of employment.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

I don’t know being lazy??? Perhaps......

 

[ausnat83]

Mine is still young, but I was a multi-year level 10 myself and I can see it coming (despite all my mixed feelings about letting any child of mine become a competitive gymnast).... The part of child, teen, and young-adulthood where you get to try new things, throw yourself into them to varying degrees, and move on and back and on again. There's no better time in life to try new things and get in a mix of experiences (athletic and other) than as a child and teen.

On a less serious note... how to throw and catch a ball, or any other athletic activity involving a ball, racket, bat, club, puck, or similar. I didn't pick up any hand eye coordination as a gymnast (just ask my coworkers who learned the hard way not to ask me to fill in on the office softball team), and my mini seems to be missing that part of youth athletic experience too. Whoops.

 

[Nikki4]

I just do not understand this. I have never felt like she nor anyone else in our family has missed out on anything due to gym, she is lvl 9, practices 30 hrs a week and she’s 12. And I have 3 other children that play sports as well.
She has the same responsibilities as the other 3 at home. Maybe we’ve just been lucky. No one misses out on their activities, we go on vacations, she is social, and even has lazy time. I honestly cannot think of one single thing she is not getting that every other typical 12 year old child.

 

[gymgal]

I wouldn't say mine missed out on many lessons but I feel it made our job as parents a little harder to make sure she still had responsibilities we expected of our others. She couldn't really hold a regular job so she worked for us in our businesses and at the gym so her hours could be flexible but still make enough to pay her car insurance and have spending money. Chores were set up so that they could be done before/after school/practice and/or on the weekends.

I just do not understand this. I have never felt like she nor anyone else in our family has missed out on anything due to gym, she is lvl 9, practices 30 hrs a week and she’s 12. And I have 3 other children that play sports as well.
She has the same responsibilities as the other 3 at home. Maybe we’ve just been lucky. No one misses out on their activities, we go on vacations, she is social, and even has lazy time. I honestly cannot think of one single thing she is not getting that every other typical 12 year old child.

Age plays a part. You may see this will likely change as she gets older and school takes more of her time - either with workload or with desire to try new activities, splitting her time even more.

 

[skschlag]

I will be honest, I do not think mine misses much. He is a 17 yo L10. He has chores (much to his dismay). he goes to school and gets good grades. He goes to football games, sleepovers, boating with friends. He goes to high school football games, dances, and events. He gets to travel the country. And we manage family vacations. Maybe when he was younger, he missed some birthday parties.

He does have to make harder choices with his classes in high school, and not take the fun electives for gym...so there's that...

 

[Deleted member 18037]

Chores were set up so that they could be done before/after school/practice and/or on the weekends.

I call that effective time management

 

[gymnastmom05]

I will be honest, I do not think mine misses much. He is a 17 yo L10. He has chores (much to his dismay). he goes to school and gets good grades. He goes to football games, sleepovers, boating with friends. He goes to high school football games, dances, and events. He gets to travel the country. And we manage family vacations. Maybe when he was younger, he missed some birthday parties.

He does have to make harder choices with his classes in high school, and not take the fun electives for gym...so there's that...

Maybe things are different in different areas. My DD has to chose to miss gym if she wants to go to football games. The games start an hour to an hour and half before she gets back into town from practice. All school sponsored clubs have their meetings right after school, she has practice. In middle school, all “dances” (they were more like lock-ins or sock hops than an actual dance) were on Fridays were during her practice hours. Her latest sacrifice was realizing a trip to Spain her Spanish teacher is organizing is going to take place right before/during regionals. I can’t see any activity that takes up so much time doesn’t have some impact on daily life. It’s one of the reasons girls quit around middle school and in high school. As far as chores, my daughter is responsible for her room. I don’t clean it and I don’t put anything away. (Including her laundry). The things I call chores that I feel she misses out on are the daily things that must be done each day that I don’t enjoy- like cooking. I’m not a cook, I hate cooking dinner but we have to eat. She’s not here to help. She’s not here to help clean up the dinner mess. She is responsible for packing her lunch for the next day and putting her own dishes away. She’s not here to walk or feed our dog. Those are the chores I’m referring to and I’m curious how others say their kids are still doing these things. Is their time at gym just at way different times than mine? I do know when we are on summer gym schedule, she is home for dinner each night and is expected to help the family but that’s 8 weeks out of the year. (And this year she was gone 4 of those 8 on family vacations, visiting her grandparents and camp).

 

[skschlag]

Maybe things are different in different areas. My DD has to chose to miss gym if she wants to go to football games. The games start an hour to an hour and half before she gets back into town from practice. All school sponsored clubs have their meetings right after school, she has practice. In middle school, all “dances” (they were more like lock-ins or sock hops than an actual dance) were on Fridays were during her practice hours. Her latest sacrifice was realizing a trip to Spain her Spanish teacher is organizing is going to take place right before/during regionals. I can’t see any activity that takes up so much time doesn’t have some impact on daily life. It’s one of the reasons girls quit around middle school and in high school. As far as chores, my daughter is responsible for her room. I don’t clean it and I don’t put anything away. (Including her laundry). The things I call chores that I feel she misses out on are the daily things that must be done each day that I don’t enjoy- like cooking. I’m not a cook, I hate cooking dinner but we have to eat. She’s not here to help. She’s not here to help clean up the dinner mess. She is responsible for packing her lunch for the next day and putting her own dishes away. She’s not here to walk or feed our dog. Those are the chores I’m referring to and I’m curious how others say their kids are still doing these things. Is their time at gym just at way different times than mine? I do know when we are on summer gym schedule, she is home for dinner each night and is expected to help the family but that’s 8 weeks out of the year. (And this year she was gone 4 of those 8 on family vacations, visiting her grandparents and camp).

So, my son's practice is 2-6. I do let him leave early for dances, and he goes to football games late. Most start at 7, and he has an hour drive. But we do allow him to miss practice for fun events like that. It is important. He does a couple of clubs who meet at lunch that he will do. It really works for him.

 

[gymnastmom05]

So, my son's practice is 2-6. I do let him leave early for dances, and he goes to football games late. Most start at 7, and he has an hour drive. But we do allow him to miss practice for fun events like that. It is important. He does a couple of clubs who meet at lunch that he will do. It really works for him.

Our practice time is later so that’s why mine isn’t home for those things. She leaves straight from school to get to practice on time. She did leave practice early to attend one football game and plans on completely skipping practice during the homecoming weekend. I think what I’m learning is all of our opportunities across the gymnastics community are different. Just like having club meetings at lunch, our school can’t do that because the lunches are staggered. I kinda got the feeling that some posters were assuming those of us that said things are a little more difficult weren’t always understanding that 1- just having the discussion and knowing we have to work harder to make sure our kids are getting these life skills doesn’t mean our kids don’t DO anything. 2- all training times, school schedules and the flexibility the schools are willing to do is different. I’m curious what chores people give their kids. Especially those that leave home by 7 am and don’t return home until after 8 or 9. I know our priority list is : eat, homework, shower and get your stuff packed and ready for the next day (lunch made, way to gym snack together, Leo, water bottle and backpack ready). Outside of that, it’s getting to bed as soon as possible. She does have a heavy school load with 4 of her 6 classes being Honors level or higher.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

We as a family make choices. My kid has missed nothing she has wanted to go to.

And that means she has missed some practices.

She hasn’t missed a dance, a concert, school events.... or important meets.

We have made the choice to skip practice or minor meets.

And the reason she is L8 and not a done L4 is because she didn’t have to choose.

As far as chores we are a family we cover each other. My husband and daughter do less during the week because of their schedules. I do less on the weekend. That’s time management and being a family.

None of us are getting out of anything