Men Any suggestions on how to address

[momnipotent]

resistance to the competition leotard? This has become an issue with ds as he feels it is a "girls" thing. Showing him the elite men and pointing out the older boys at his gym helps initially, but we seem to keep addressing the same issue over and over. Did anyone else have issues with their boys and wearing a leotard and how did you address it?

 

[Deleted member D3987]

when in Rome...

 

[GymBee97]

The gym called it a "boys Tank" and never refered to it as a leotard.
The coach's favorite saying is "you can wear this or go to the meet naked!"

some of the other things the coach has said is.
"you can wear this or you can't compete"
"you can wear this or your off the team"

 

[MyBoysFlip]

We call it a step in & you can always point out that it is much better than a wrestling singlet- which I think looks much more like a leotard because it has no shorts or pants!

 

[momnipotent]

Thanks everyone-I should clarify that we have never called it a leotard to ds-the gym calls it a jersey and so do we, but I used leotard in this post because to his eyes, that's what it is (and it probably didn't help that his little brother saw him get it and immediately went over to the girls leotard rack and started crying for a red (sparkly) leotard of his own) I'm going to try the 'wear this or go naked' line and seeif it works, otherwise I guess 'suck it up cupcake' (and maybe some shameless bribery)it is!

 

[mumoftwogymnasts]

I agree with Dunno...when in Rome...

Ds doesn't like it much (and in his gym it is referred to as a leotard)... but it is what gymnasts wear, so he just sucks it up.

 

[Azgymmiemom]

Wow...poor kid, I sympathize. We call them singlets. And ours have the boy short cut, not the traditional cut, so they really don't look like what the girls wear. Plus, they ALWAYS have their shorts on over it, then pull their pommel pants on over top of their shorts. My ds balked the first season, too...until coach made them wear an all black one every Friday to practice. Now he's so used to it, it doesn't phase him in the least.

Have coach tell him, either wear it or don't compete. Chances are, when he sees he's in the same boat as every other boy there, he will wear it.
Good luck!!

 

[wallinbl]

Just show him what male athletes used to wear 20 or more years ago. The shorts alone should make him feel better about what male gymnasts get to wear.

 

[profmom]

I like "suck it up, cupcake!", but if that doesn't work, it might do to point out admiringly how well the cut of the top part shows off his awesome shoulder muscles and upper arms. If you can hold your nose and tell him, "you worked hard for those guns, son, and you've gotta flaunt 'em!", even better.