MAG And the sacrifices begin

[momto2js]

We just got our fall schedule. My son is 9 in the 4th grade and a level 6. He is a middle of the road gymnast. Three school days from 5:30 until 8:30 and Friday from 4-7. The gym is between school and home and the boys are done at school at 3:30. There isn't enough time to get home and then turn around and go back, as the 5pm traffic is a mess. But that is 2 hours after school with nothing to do for both kids.

I would like to know if this later schedule means that the large group is being split so that the kids get more coaching. Right now the training group is preteam to level 6 and can be as many as 16 at times. If the preteamers and level 4s were before the others, it would be a better group size and dynamic. Asking a coach to work on giants and cartwheels at the same time is a tall order. That may make the family sacrifices worth it, but if it is the status quo, I'm not sure as a family we can. Is it reasonable to ask the gym management for a game plan and a reason for the late practice time. Is this just how it is? I know this is a demanding sport, I was expecting the extra day but not the late hours and I had expected the 4th day to be on a weekend day. At what point did you start questioning if you had lost your mind to keep your kid in the gym?

 

[skschlag]

Seems like it was round about that time does your gym put out a whole schedule that you can see? That way you would know what levels are when and it might put your mind at ease.

That being said, D's work outs are anywhere from 1-10 kids, levels 4-10. So I get how hard that can be.

Hope you gt some answers!

 

[GymDad9.9]

Time gaps between school and practice comes down to a time management issue. If it were me, those two hours would be spent at the gym doing homework and getting a small meal or snack in. Hopefully your gym has a place to allow for it in relative peace. As for why gym has set their hours as such it would probably be best to ask the owners. Coaches have lives outside the gym as well and there could very well be issues regarding their daily schedules that is causing it.

 

[Madden3]

I think it is always reasonable to politely voice concerns about late practice. We are talking a 9 year old- that is a very late practice for that age in my opinion. Sometimes there is nothing whatsoever that can be done, of course, but other times, the coaches (who may or may not be parents themselves) may not be taking into consideration with enough weight the realities of how much sleep younger children need and how late practices impact sleep time when they make these schedules.

At our gym when they had the level 5s practicing 5- 8 most nights, we tried it for a couple weeks and then I told the HC that was simply too late for my son (who was 9 at the time) and we would be picking him up at 7:30. And we did. My son hated it, but the HC was cool with it and my son got enough sleep, which was the most important thing to me. That was 3 seasons ago and since then (don't know about this fall yet) practice for compulsory levels have started early and never gone past 7:30 more than once per week. In fact the coach seems to make a concerted effort to keep the late night practices to a minimum for everyone. I would think that sleep deprived kids are more likely to get injured and have attitude or behavior issues.

I would give the coach kudos for getting the fall schedule to you so early!

 

[MILgymFAM]

We just got our fall schedule. My son is 9 in the 4th grade and a level 6. He is a middle of the road gymnast. Three school days from 5:30 until 8:30 and Friday from 4-7. The gym is between school and home and the boys are done at school at 3:30. There isn't enough time to get home and then turn around and go back, as the 5pm traffic is a mess. But that is 2 hours after school with nothing to do for both kids.
...
At what point did you start questioning if you had lost your mind to keep your kid in the gym?

If gym is between school and home, I'm not sure I see how going home is a problem? You'll be passing it anyway. As for the dead time, we utilize a LOT of libraries. Our local library has a picnic area/cafe so we do snacks and of course homework (reading in the summer).

As for when I realized I lost my mind? About a year after my DD started gym. Should've been sooner!

 

[MILgymFAM]

Errr, absolute brain fart. Gym in the middle. Got it. We have horrendous traffic here, so I double get it. I reiterate the library is your friend.

 

[samsmama]

My DS is the same -- 9 going into 4th grade and training L6. He practices 4 days a week in the fall, 4:30-8:30. The gym is 45 min from our current home, so we get home very late, though we're about to move 15 min closer. There is no downtime except in the car as school gets out at 4. He has handled it much better than I expected and there's been no negative effect on school. Not saying it's ideal at all, but it works OK for us.

Is it all a bit crazy? Yes! We seriously discussed whether it was worthwhile before we switched gyms in the spring to one with more hours and a long drive, but I have no regrets. DS is thriving and happy.

 

[skschlag]

I'll be honest, it actually gets harder when they are in high school. When they get home at 3:30 and work out from 5:30-9 and have 2-3 hours of homework, have to eat, and are exhausted. that gets much more difficult.

 

[profmom]

A hearty second to Skschlag. Around here, both junior high and high school require them to be on the bus a little before 7 AM, and both of my gymnasts had four nights a week in the gym from 5-9. My daughter started high school last year and my son started junior high. Both of them tended to be pretty wiped out by the weekends and thank goodness the gym schedule didn't require either to show up for a 9 AM Saturday practice. They survived and even thrived academically, but it was by no means a walk in the park, and we definitely had some rough nights. If either said s/he needed a day off school, I asked no questions and waved no thermometers.

 

[munchkin3]

You would be surprised how well kids handle things when it is the norm. I find that when I voice my own discontent, then they start having trouble with the lack of time.......
If I'm happy and make it totally normal that they eat in the car, change in the car, study in the car......keep the house silent on the weekends......then they are totally fine with it.........it's just normal. [emoji6]

 

[duyetanh]

You would be surprised how well kids handle things when it is the norm. I find that when I voice my own discontent, then they start having trouble with the lack of time.......
If I'm happy and make it totally normal that they eat in the car, change in the car, study in the car......keep the house silent on the weekends......then they are totally fine with it.........it's just normal. [emoji6]

Hell, we practically LIVE in our car....