WAG Comp season is here- what are your traditions?

[ARKGYMMOM]

Olive Garden Fettuccini Alfredo with Chicken the night before. I don't know how this started but it has to happen. We have been to meets where there was not an Olive Garden but we still had to find Italian food. She does not seem to eat this often but she always wants it the night before her meet. What ever works right???

 

[coachmolly]

When I was younger I read that a gymnast I really admired ate french toast before every meet, so I decided I would do the same thing.
Now that I coach high school gym and many of our meets involve a 5:00am departure time, my pre-meet ritual is setting at least 2 alarms the night before and LOTS of coffee .

 

[gymmamae]

Our traditions have just started, since DD is only 8 and this is only her second season. The night before meets/tops testing we read "The Twelve Gifts of Birth" by Charlene Constanzo. It's a beautiful book about all the "gifts" all children have. It seems to inspire her. She also carries a "magic wand" that her uncle carved for her using some rare wood from his neck of the woods (Iowa ).

Of course there's also the ritual of fixing her hair -- not an easy task for me but I'm getting better !

 

[my4buffaloes]

We try to have pasta the night before and we always listen to Taylor Swift on the way to the meets. She is almost 13 though so I don't know how much longer the Taylor Swift deal will last. As for after? We try to celebrate in some way, but it varies depending on the meet and the time of day. Sometimes it is a treat at the meet while waiting on awards, other times it is dinner out. No ice cream for dd so that is a no-go - that would be the easy go-to treat.

Forgot to add that dd always runs through her routines in her head on the way to the meet. And the time she said she kept falling off the beam in her head I made her start over LOL. And one time she fell asleep, but she always does it.

 

[wgymmom]

I'm going to get hammered for this, but we were eating breakfast at McD's before all of her meets but the first one last year. Two meets were almost in the same place, so we stopped at the same McD's and she did well, so... All the meets are in the opposite direction this year though.

 

[Azgymmiemom]

If it's an away meet with an early call, we order room service to be delivered so she can eat breakfast while I'm fixing her hair. She likes that tradition! Otherwise, we usually just go for ice cream or food with whatever group of families are wanting to do so afterward. Oh...and she has "lucky" sock monkeys that must hang out of/around/on her gym bag at each and every meet.

 

[curlygirls]

We seem to end up with a lot of early morning meets and breakfast tacos have become a tradition. It was the one thing I could get my breakfast hating dd to actually eat before the meet.

 

[shelovestoflip]

Pre meet is low key....my daughter gets in her zone.

Post meet we often go to eat with teammates if not a late end.

Daughter always sleeps with medals/trophy next to her bed. Has since her first meet 6 years ago and I'm sure will continue this season (Level 9). And the medals stay on the bed post until the next meet, when they are moved to her medal rack behind her door.

 

[Ex member]

Oldest dd has her first meet next week and it is 300+ miles away and is on all weekend, we are staying over night and she will be going to a disco that they are putting on. We don't have any traditions yet, just hoping she will get through her routines without much drama.

I am getting dd a medal keepsake made that will have the place and date of her meet on the back and a gymnastics image on the front - something to have in case she doesn't get a medal.

 

[vagymmomma]

I feel a little bad because we haven't developed any real traditions. Oh, unless you count getting lost for away meets and stressing about the arrival.

 

[MaryA]

I feel a little bad because we haven't developed any real traditions. Oh, unless you count getting lost for away meets and stressing about the arrival.

I always stress out about getting there on time, which means we usually leave crazy-early and spend an hour or more waiting around. This year a teammates mother who is a hair dresser offered to do DD's hair before meets, which sounded like a great thing, except then I realized that it would just stress me out further if DD is going to the meet and her hair isn't done yet. What if the other mom is late? I can do a passable bun, but I can't do it quickly, and her hair is too long for just a ponytail.

 

[Bajanswife]

Oh dear, we don't compete enough to have traditions.

I will say that any meet that takes place in the U.S., Puerto Rico or even Trinidad has to involve shopping! If you lived on a tiny island you'd understand why.

The moms do like to get together and have some adult beverages while the gymmies swim in the pool. We have had a couple of meets in Trinidad where we went to Pricesmart next door to the hotel for pizza and drinks and had a pool party.

Now I am sad all over again that we won't be traveling to compete at all this year. We always have so much fun when we do!

 

[wgymmom]

I always stress out about getting there on time, which means we usually leave crazy-early and spend an hour or more waiting around. This year a teammates mother who is a hair dresser offered to do DD's hair before meets, which sounded like a great thing, except then I realized that it would just stress me out further if DD is going to the meet and her hair isn't done yet. What if the other mom is late? I can do a passable bun, but I can't do it quickly, and her hair is too long for just a ponytail.

We got there crazy early for DD's second meet last year. The gym helpfully directed us to a Starbucks, and problem solved!

 

[Ekat]

I think I'd like to combine the alcohol and the goat idea. May be that way couple of videos of beam routines from last year would not need a bleeeep at the moment my daughter took a fall (it was so reflexive I didnt even have time to stop myself, needed to edit them afterwards)....

 

[kitkat]

No junk food for the 4 days before. Pasta the night before. Eggs of some kind for breakie the day of. And whatever she wants after.
Bed by 8:30 at the latest...usually for me too - as I am usually so stressed out.

 

[raenndrops]

With our 2 gymmies, we will be at a meet all day. We will have 6 regular season meets, Districts, and Nationals this year. Our meet traditions include McDonalds AFTER the meet (a shake with the meal - a MEDIUM if they met at least one of their personal goals). Younger gymmie needs 3 breakfasts before a home meet and 2 before away meets. If we are leaving in the morning, breakfast to go from home, a stop at the gas station for a breakfast sandwich and something for later... or for a home meet my sister brings a McDonalds hash brown for the third breakfast.
If it is a "hotel before" meet, we go to the free breakfast and stock up on stuff we can put in their gym bags - fruit, bagels, yogurt (for early on). Hair is done right before or during breakfast... then back to the room to put leo on. Then she eats again when we arrive at the venue.

 

[mpkbt]

FYI....go to meets in Nevada......You can drink adult beverages DURING BEAM!

 

[MaryA]

FYI....go to meets in Nevada......You can drink adult beverages DURING BEAM!

I'm so there!

 

[emilykatherine]

The night before I'm always on FaceTime or calling my teammates and we talk about our goals and what judge we think will be at the meet. After me, my team, and my coaches go out to eat and during dinner we all take our hair down and all the adults talk about stories from when we were babies(my mom always has the best because I was a really bad baby)

 

[2gymnastand1soccerplayer]

The night before we always go have pasta. If we're in a hotel then we go to the grocery store and get fruit and have a big fruit salad for breakfast .(My kids don't like to eat breakfast so getting the to have fruit the morning of a meet is miracle ) while their eating we do hair and we talk about their goals for the meet. ( I also always tell them to try and meet at least on person from another club and learn three facts about them). After the meet we go out for team dinner. If its a meet the in the same town or not very far we usually do the same thing just may not go out for team dinner.We don't do anything super special but my girls always tell me we have to do it for every meet. I hope it last like this as long as they are competing because I feel like its a special bonding time between me and my two girls ( my husband usually stays with our son so he can still do his soccer stuff)