Parents Family doesn't get the gymnastics thing.

[cher062]

I think every family is the same. My family too doesn't get why gym is choosen over other activities and they feel it's too much time and why in the world would we let her go to gym camp doesn't she do enough of that already? I'm sure we all hear the same things. That's what makes this board so great we all live the gym lifestyle and yes it definitly is a lifestyle and we all know what it takes to be a gymnast and a gym parent/family. Unless you live it and support it you just can't explain it to the rest of the family.

Hopefully your family will get a clue but in all the years my kids have been involved the family never has gotten a clue.

 

[ValleyGymMom]

I completely understand your frustration. My DD is 16 and has trained for 8 years and is a level 9. So there have been many, many times she has wanted to share her joy with our family and they too just don't get it. Once a family member asked if she were going to to Olympics and when we said no , his response was, "well it seems a huge waste of money to me".
And I agree with you about the friends. The majority of school girls do seem to grow up quickly while her gym friends share a common goal...gymnastics!
We have learned over the years not to push showing videos, or talking about it too much. It is hard though when you are so proud of your child, because it is a HUGE accomplishment.
Wish I had some advice to share but I don't , just the experience of having been where you are. Only another gymnastics family would understand.

 

[NGL780309]

I get the same from my parents toward my DD. My mom in particular is never excited when DD gets a new skill and she's consistently putting down her choice to do gymnastics. She thinks it's too much time and it's pointless. It makes me mad because they are so supportive of the other things their grandchildren do, but they never act like they are proud of her or even care. I heard recently that DD's gym might be closing down and I was wondering out loud what we would do. There really aren't any good gyms close. We'd have to drive 45 minutes at least and my mom threw a fit and said that would be the stupidest thing ever. She said DD could just find something else to do.

 

[jdf]

For some weird reason, my parents love to hear about what my other two kids and their two cousins are doing, but they think that my gymnast daughter is just showing off. And she never even talks about it! if I bring it up, the subject is changed to the other children.

 

[gymmomof1]

I can relate with Mdgymmomof1(glad to see you post) and all the other posts-those here at CB understand what you are going through and what your gymmie goes through. Until my DD was in gymnastics I never knew how much time, effort, joy and pain goes into this sport and there are days when I think this is crazy but when she tells me she how much she really enjoys the sport with her teammates and coaches and I see the look on her face that is all I need to see at that moment. I wish your DD the best and enjoy hearing about her experiences here .

 

[emandelsmom]

thank you all! You are great and so supportive!

 

[Bajanswife]

My family is pretty supportive, but many friends and aquaintances don't understand why we bother with this whole competitive team thing, which is time-consuming and expensive. We live in a tiny island in the Caribbean - it's not like any of our girls will ever go Elite or anything! Our best gymnast is Level 9 and already 17 years old. Our youngest team members are 6 going on 7, and only in Level 3. So you see, we're in this just for the fun and experience, we will never be superstars.

But there is something so enriching for a child to be able to represent their country in any sport, and since we are the only competitive gymnastics team in our country, that's what they get to do! They only get to travel to compete about 3 times a year (hopefully we can expand that with more sponsorship and fund-raising), but those are 3 trips that really expand their minds and experiences, and they are fun!

So no matter what people say or think about us wasting our time and money on this sport, I will never see it as a waste - my DD will continue to gain confidence and rack up life experiences from her travels to compete, and I will try my best to facilitate her membership on the team for as long as she wants to continue.