Parents Flipfest Meet report

[GymDadRadioguy]

Well, for the first time ever, my kiki was very sick going into a meet. She had been throwing up 24 hours leading up to her session. I had reservation about her competing, but she insisted. She was so weak that she had her lowest scores all season BUT for the first time EVER she hit both kips on her (level 5)bar routine! YAY!!! Gotta take the good with the bad I guess

Gym Dad Radio Guy
gymdad.blogspot.com

 

[gymjoy]

(Warning! this a finger wagging, mommy response)

And sometimes you just have to tell them NO!
You and your dd are all lucky she did not injure herself. It is hard to tell these girls not to compete. They work so hard and competing is the pay off. But, really, missing one level 5 meet is not going to change the course of her life - though falling on her head because she's weakened by illness might!!

Glad she got her kips up, and hope she is feeling better.

 

[mariposa]

Congrats to her on making both kips in a meet, that is a big thing.

I agree though about not competing when sick, for safety, but also because it is knowingly exposing her teammates, coaches, other gymnasts, etc, to whatever she might have had.

Always amazed by what gymmies can do when not at their best, but I cringe when I hear of people letting their sick kids compete. My kids have pretty great immune systems and rarely get sick/get better quick when they do, but not all kids/adults are so lucky and some little virus could keep them out of work/school/gym for a week or more.

 

[gymmomntc2e6]

(Warning! this a finger wagging, mommy response)

And sometimes you just have to tell them NO!
You and your dd are all lucky she did not injure herself. It is hard to tell these girls not to compete. They work so hard and competing is the pay off. But, really, missing one level 5 meet is not going to change the course of her life - though falling on her head because she's weakened by illness might!!

Glad she got her kips up, and hope she is feeling better.

Not to mention that she was possibly still contagous and could have spread the nasty virus to the other girls !

 

[flippersmom]

Gladd someone else was first to say it, but I agree. Not a fan of the sick child competing at all. Last year DD had a teammate throw up on her feet as she was suppose to be stepping up to salute to judges. Luckily they let her clean off her feet before competing, but it was completely unfair.

Since so many girls touch the equipment and it is not cleaned between each girl, it just doesn't seem fair.

 

[annabanana]

Hi. I just had to say that I also agree with everyone. It is one thing to not realize a child is coming down with something. It is another to knowingly expose her to other people. There are kids and parents out there who may have issues that compromise their immune system. To them it is not just " a small bug". To some people, a touch of the stomach flu can lead to several days in the hospital. You just never know. My younger daughter is one of those people. As much as I'd like to, I cannot put her in a bubble! Kids get sick, its part of being a kid. My kids have certainly brought home their share of illnesses, however, I feel that common sense and courtesy should prevail.

 

[Swiftli]

Cut the guy some slack. I know many of us in his shoes would have allowed the girl to compete. You are at a big travel meet far from home, it has been 24 hours, your daughter appears to have recovered...so you let them compete.

We had an instance where four girls were sharing a room for our big out of town meet. That night, one of the girls got sick in the room so bad they were all up changing rooms at 2am in the morning. The mom of that girl let her compete the next day--now this I feel deserved the finger wagging!

ALL of the girls were exhausted so they were all "off" for that meet. While they weren't the sick ones, their moms still worried about them. Sometimes you just gotta roll with the punches.


As for cleaning the equipment between gymnasts, in my opinion I feel this should be done whether kids are sick OR NOT. I sat as a scorer for a boys' meet for pommel horse. It was a lower level and they used the mushroom. I would say about 50% of the boys spat on their hands before their routines for better stick I guess....but still darn gross if you ask me that the next would come along and have to use that equipment immediately after his spit was all over it. eeewww..

 

[gymjourneymom]

Congrats to your dd on making her kips! I actually really enjoy your posts GDRG! Don't want you feel like you're under attack. But since we do have a lot of new posters, many who have very young children who are new to the sport. I think it's important that everyone realize, this is just a sport our children participate & enjoy. NOTHING...(especially no meet!) is more important than the health & well being of your child(or anyone elses child). So this message is not just directed at you alone GDRG, I don't want to scare you away from posting. But I don't want new gym parents who might read your post to be thinking "Oh we have to get to meets no matter what!". Really, it's just one meet. A blip in the big scheme of things. Please ppl don't put attending a meet above the health & comfort of your dd or risk infecting others. JMHO.

 

[Ingwe]

gladd someone else was first to say it, but i agree. Not a fan of the sick child competing at all. Last year dd had a teammate throw up on her feet as she was suppose to be stepping up to salute to judges. Luckily they let her clean off her feet before competing, but it was completely unfair.

Since so many girls touch the equipment and it is not cleaned between each girl, it just doesn't seem fair.

eeeewwwww!!!!!

 

[pixie flips]

Good for Kiki on getting both kips! Especially while feeling a bit under the weather. Maybe now she will realize she can do both in the same routine and the days of only hitting one will be far in the past! Way to go, Kiki

 

[MdGymMom01]

(Warning! this a finger wagging, mommy response)

And sometimes you just have to tell them NO!
You and your dd are all lucky she did not injure herself. It is hard to tell these girls not to compete. They work so hard and competing is the pay off. But, really, missing one level 5 meet is not going to change the course of her life - though falling on her head because she's weakened by illness might!!

Glad she got her kips up, and hope she is feeling better.

I TOTALLY agree with this and the other posters that mentioned that she could still be contageous thus infecting 100's of other people! . Your dd is only 7 right??? Ummmm, I think she has plenty of other meets in her lifetime where if she was this sick she could have sat this one out.

Yeah, sure, she insisted, but who is the parent here???? Sometimes you have to just say NO!

Congrats to the kips, but if she had fallen and seriously injured herself, would it have been worth it??? Just something to think about...

 

[cathiann]

Congrats to your daughter on getting her kip--yeah!
Hope she didn't infect anyone else though.