Parents Clothespin Trend

[Coach Kate]

I think this is very cute and I appreciate that it is cheap and creative. Unfortunately, I have a boy and he’d rather eat a fistful of slugs than do anything that might be called cute. .

I sometimes envy the girls with all their cheerful social interactions like having younger “buddies”, giving gifts, having parties, and especially all the cheering for and encouragement. A girl gets a new skill and they ring a bell and everyone cheers. A boy gets a new skill and the coach gives him a curt nod of approval or a perfunctory fist-bump and maybe a few teammates grunt in his general direction. My son loves to cheer on his teammates and I feel sad that he doesn’t get much back. I let him have very limited access to Instagram on my phone because the older boys he trains with do give positive feedback to each other online.

Get him and his teammates following Ian Gunther, Khoi Young, and Frederick Richard on social media! They all really hype each other up and it's so fun to watch.

 

[Dahlialover]

Get him and his teammates following Ian Gunther, Khoi Young, and Frederick Richard on social media! They all really hype each other up and it's so fun to watch.

All the gym boys love Ian, Khoi, and Fred, my son included!

 

[SMH]

My daughter and her teammate 'pinned' girls at their state meet last weekend-
nothing fancy just wooden clips with phrases and pictures on them- they had fun, other girls loved it, and I think it helped distract them from nerves.

 

[catchingupmom]

I think this is very cute and I appreciate that it is cheap and creative. Unfortunately, I have a boy and he’d rather eat a fistful of slugs than do anything that might be called cute. .

I sometimes envy the girls with all their cheerful social interactions like having younger “buddies”, giving gifts, having parties, and especially all the cheering and encouragement. A girl gets a new skill and they ring a bell and everyone cheers. A boy gets a new skill and the coach gives him a curt nod of approval or a perfunctory fist-bump and maybe a few teammates grunt in his general direction. My son loves to cheer on his teammates and I feel sad that he doesn’t get much back. I let him have very limited access to Instagram on my phone because the older boys he trains with do give positive feedback to each other online.

To be fair, my daughter's gym does not have a bell or get a ton of celebration with a new skill, and not all boys teams are quite so reserved either. Although I totally get how a boy wouldn't be into this. I think we just have to figure out an outlet for the boys to appreciate and encourage each other more while preserving their ego. Daughter's boyfriend used to be a gymnast and I think they do connect more easily with each other in competition, they tend to talk to competitors more and don't (at least from what I've seen) show jealousy as much.

 

[SupportingHerDreams]

I think this is very cute and I appreciate that it is cheap and creative. Unfortunately, I have a boy and he’d rather eat a fistful of slugs than do anything that might be called cute. .

I sometimes envy the girls with all their cheerful social interactions like having younger “buddies”, giving gifts, having parties, and especially all the cheering and encouragement. A girl gets a new skill and they ring a bell and everyone cheers. A boy gets a new skill and the coach gives him a curt nod of approval or a perfunctory fist-bump and maybe a few teammates grunt in his general direction. My son loves to cheer on his teammates and I feel sad that he doesn’t get much back. I let him have very limited access to Instagram on my phone because the older boys he trains with do give positive feedback to each other online.

Your son's coach and experience with new skills sounds just like my daughter's!!

 

[Dahlialover]

Daughter's boyfriend used to be a gymnast and I think they do connect more easily with each other in competition, they tend to talk to competitors more and don't (at least from what I've seen) show jealousy as much.

My son doesn’t just talk to his competitors, he genuinely thinks of them as friends. I have their parents’ phone numbers and we go to camps together, coordinate travel plans, and even hang out outside of meets. My son’s favorite thing about meets is seeing his friends! I never know what team he’ll be sitting with during awards. Boy’s gymnastics is such a small community that we all feel like we are in it together.