Parents Called it quits!

[Tara]

My son Matthew was on the level 5 team at our gym. He has been begging me for months to let him stop. He doesn't like the sport anymore. He said he wanted to try other things. Didn't like all the conditioning and the hours after school. Now he is doing baseball and loves it. Just needed to vent.

 

[Billy]

If he's been begging to quit for months then I definitely think you did the right thing.

 

[Tara]

If he's been begging to quit for months then I definitely think you did the right thing.

There are some mothers at our gym that force their child to stay in the sport even though she comes home every practice in tears. It's upsetting to watch sometimes.

 

[Billy]

I agree. I think almost every child has "I want to quit" moments. The key is to ascertain the reason for the moment. Sometimes it's just that they don't want to miss something on TV. However, if the attitude continues for a while, I think you can't ignore the fact that they just aren't happy any more. You're doing the right thing letting him quit.

 

[gym law mom]

If he wasn't happy and had asked to quit not because of 1 or 2 bad practices then you did the right thing by telling him to it was ok. Glad he's having fun with baseball. At a certain point it gets almost impossible to make them go if they don't want to and its a waste of your money/time plus the coach's time to have a child in there that simply doesn't want to be there.

Good call.

 

[Tara]

He is having such a better time at baseball, I'm guessing he just didn't like the atmosphere of the gym and always being yelled at. Most of his team is 8-9 years old, and the coaches had absolutely no feelings. Always yelling, always conditioning, no "good jobs" or "nice try." Even the boys were a bit snobby, always trying to top Matt. Wasn't a good fit for him.

 

[bogwoppit]

A very wise choice I think. A child who consistently says he/she wants to quit for month should be allowed to, especially when they are so young.

Forcing a child to do gym is a waste of everyone's time and money.

 

[Tara]

A very wise choice I think. A child who consistently says he/she wants to quit for month should be allowed to, especially when they are so young.

Forcing a child to do gym is a waste of everyone's time and money.

I am really enjoying the extra money LOL.

 

[mariposa]

I think it is great that you listened to him and let him choose. I think sometimes as parents it can be hard, after all the time and money put into competitive gymnastics, but I think that should be something thought of before you let them. I know that even if my DD quit tomorrow, she has gotten so much out of gymnastics. I think kids go through stages sometimes, but since he was asking for months, I think he was really wanting to quit.

Hope he finds he loves baseball just as much!

And enjoy spending that money, though you will probably find it will be heading towards your DDs level 5 training. LOL

 

[Tara]

I think it is great that you listened to him and let him choose. I think sometimes as parents it can be hard, after all the time and money put into competitive gymnastics, but I think that should be something thought of before you let them. I know that even if my DD quit tomorrow, she has gotten so much out of gymnastics. I think kids go through stages sometimes, but since he was asking for months, I think he was really wanting to quit.

Hope he finds he loves baseball just as much!

And enjoy spending that money, though you will probably find it will be heading towards your DDs level 5 training. LOL

Oh man! I thought it could be used for a little getaway. You can just never win with 4 kids in sports.

 

[flippymonkeysmom]

You made the right decision. This is a tough sport under the best circumstances. I have told my dd time and time again that it is not worth it unless she loves it and is there for herself - not anyone else. These other parents who make kids stay in it are going to have some unhappy kids with quite a resentment someday. I hope he has fun with whatever he chooses to do next

 

[Blackie6]

So sorry, it must have been tough making that decision. He will be awesome in baseball though with all that conditioning & upper body strength behind him! Both my boys (12 & 10) play baseball too. We have done regular season, Summer all-stars and now Fall ball. Funny thing is my DD (7) played teener ball this year and she plays like a boy from watching her brothers all the time...knows how to slide already, tag out, and was often the only one catching and throwing the ball. The other girls were not as interested! Thinking about letting her maybe play with the boys or wait until ponytail to play w/girls who really want to play.

Don't be surprised if he is looking to play a different sport each season (baseball, basketball, soccer) since he is so used to going to the gym all year round, LOL

 

[Tara]

So sorry, it must have been tough making that decision. He will be awesome in baseball though with all that conditioning & upper body strength behind him! Both my boys (12 & 10) play baseball too. We have done regular season, Summer all-stars and now Fall ball. Funny thing is my DD (7) played teener ball this year and she plays like a boy from watching her brothers all the time...knows how to slide already, tag out, and was often the only one catching and throwing the ball. The other girls were not as interested! Thinking about letting her maybe play with the boys or wait until ponytail to play w/girls who really want to play.

Don't be surprised if he is looking to play a different sport each season (baseball, basketball, soccer) since he is so used to going to the gym all year round, LOL

LOL! Your daughter sounds so motivated, if she didn't do gym would she have done softball? My niece actually plays on an all star team with all boys! Not a single girl in the whole league- I think they let her in because her dad coaches. Before gymnastics, my son did basketball and soccer! He is a pretty all around kid.

 

[Blackie6]

LOL! Your daughter sounds so motivated, if she didn't do gym would she have done softball? My niece actually plays on an all star team with all boys! Not a single girl in the whole league- I think they let her in because her dad coaches. Before gymnastics, my son did basketball and soccer! He is a pretty all around kid.

OK, funny story!

This past Summer my 12 yr old played on an all-star team. In one tournament as they were in the field warming up the other team was jogging and we all noticed a HUGE player on the other already larger-than-our-boys team. "He" had long blond hair and we thought OK, Fabian type whatever. "He" hit an awesome smack to the middle field and got to 1st where my son was standing. My son only came up to his shoulders, but we noticed him giggling while looking up. As the "guy" got to second, same thing, head and shoulders over 2nd baseman and a case of the giggles. We were all seated right at third base behind a fence about 3-4 ft away when "he" came running and sliding into 3rd. Ball was thrown to get the out at 3rd and our guy scooped it up and ended up getting the out with his arm actually entagled around waist/chest of this player. He looks up us all in the crowd and starts laughing as he realizes "OMG it's a GIRL". Thenhe starts shaking his hand like "eww girl cooties". We were done, lost the game, the boys couldn't stop giggling because in all their years they never played a team with a girl on it and they were totally psyched out! That's all you heard coming from the dugout girl girl girl girl! My husband is the coach and later watched the same team play again and confirmed she was good and knocked out a couple!

Another story...my husband also coaches the younger son and a couple years ago in C league had a girl on the team. She was from our elementary school and she held her own. She wasn't scared of the ball while batting and never left the batters box, even some of the boys were scared of the fast balls coming at them. She even smacked a couple. parent put her in for same reasons we are thinking about...had boys down at the field already and she wanted to play ball while most girls her age were not interested in it yet.

My daughter can hit good overhead balls but has a hard time with the "girlie" underhanded pitches. She's used to going to the batting cages with her brothers. We loved watching the girls play in the Olympics too and I think they should allow Girls softball to stay in the Olympics.

 

[Tara]

OK, funny story!

This past Summer my 12 yr old played on an all-star team. In one tournament as they were in the field warming up the other team was jogging and we all noticed a HUGE player on the other already larger-than-our-boys team. "He" had long blond hair and we thought OK, Fabian type whatever. "He" hit an awesome smack to the middle field and got to 1st where my son was standing. My son only came up to his shoulders, but we noticed him giggling while looking up. As the "guy" got to second, same thing, head and shoulders over 2nd baseman and a case of the giggles. We were all seated right at third base behind a fence about 3-4 ft away when "he" came running and sliding into 3rd. Ball was thrown to get the out at 3rd and our guy scooped it up and ended up getting the out with his arm actually entagled around waist/chest of this player. He looks up us all in the crowd and starts laughing as he realizes "OMG it's a GIRL". Thenhe starts shaking his hand like "eww girl cooties". We were done, lost the game, the boys couldn't stop giggling because in all their years they never played a team with a girl on it and they were totally psyched out! That's all you heard coming from the dugout girl girl girl girl! My husband is the coach and later watched the same team play again and confirmed she was good and knocked out a couple!

Another story...my husband also coaches the younger son and a couple years ago in C league had a girl on the team. She was from our elementary school and she held her own. She wasn't scared of the ball while batting and never left the batters box, even some of the boys were scared of the fast balls coming at them. She even smacked a couple. parent put her in for same reasons we are thinking about...had boys down at the field already and she wanted to play ball while most girls her age were not interested in it yet.

My daughter can hit good overhead balls but has a hard time with the "girlie" underhanded pitches. She's used to going to the batting cages with her brothers. We loved watching the girls play in the Olympics too and I think they should allow Girls softball to stay in the Olympics.

I was LOL'ing at the first story! A lot of these girls are idols, playing with the boys on an all boys team. And I have heard about the Olympics cutting softball! Why is that?