Parents For when it's time to quit

[MILgymFAM]

I ran across this and found it a good read. Sometimes the best thing is to fight tooth and nail for what you want, but sometimes the best thing is really to just walk away with head held high.

https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/06/...en-to-quit.html?referer=http://m.facebook.com

 

[Gymmommy71]

I ran across this and found it a good read. Sometimes the best thing is to fight tooth and nail for what you want, but sometimes the best thing is really to just walk away with head held high.

https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/06/...en-to-quit.html?referer=http://m.facebook.com

Great article - a lot of deep stuff that really makes you think. The "gym story" version would include injuries and fears along w/ the unhappiness.

Interesting how the mom described her college swim scholarship as how she got to frequently lose to swimmers who would win Olympic medals - that sounds a lot like what college gym is too.

 

[gymmomx2]

Great article - a lot of deep stuff that really makes you think. The "gym story" version would include injuries and fears along w/ the unhappiness.

Interesting how the mom described her college swim scholarship as how she got to frequently lose to swimmers who would win Olympic medals - that sounds a lot like what college gym is too.

Except in college gym the winning gymnasts already went to the Olympics

 

[MAmom]

I always find the comments people have about the NYT articles interesting too.

 

[munchkin3]

Thanks MIL.....you just made me feel a whole lot better about keeping my DD at her current gym because 'it's more fun'....

 

[profmom]

I'd add a corollary to this, which is that it is OK for a child to pursue a sport even if the child will never reach the "top" levels. My oldest played second-tier club soccer until this past year, with no aspirations of playing team soccer in college, just because he enjoyed playing the game at a club rather than rec level. My daughter will never reach L10. Her body won't tolerate that intensity of training, and she may be switching over to XCel, but she's still in the gym because she loves doing gymnastics.

Had an interesting interaction recently about men's gym in college in which another parent told me that s/he would never pay for a child to do one of the high end clubs like SoCal United, Temple, or UW. NCAA or nothing. That got me to thinking about all the significantly less worthwhile ways a college student could be spending time and the significantly less valuable investments a parent could make while a child is in college. There are worse ways to ensure that the child's college experience will help him to learn discipline and time management, to stay physically active, to build a strong cohort of good friends, and to take in from a more mature perspective all the things gym can teach. If my son is interested and he can do his part to earn an academic scholarship to a school with a club team, at this point, I'd be inclined to support it.

 

[MILgymFAM]

I'd add a corollary to this, which is that it is OK for a child to pursue a sport even if the child will never reach the "top" levels. My oldest played second-tier club soccer until this past year, with no aspirations of playing team soccer in college, just because he enjoyed playing the game at a club rather than rec level. My daughter will never reach L10. Her body won't tolerate that intensity of training, and she may be switching over to XCel, but she's still in the gym because she loves doing gymnastics.

Had an interesting interaction recently about men's gym in college in which another parent told me that s/he would never pay for a child to do one of the high end clubs like SoCal United, Temple, or UW. NCAA or nothing. That got me to thinking about all the significantly less worthwhile ways a college student could be spending time and the significantly less valuable investments a parent could make while a child is in college. There are worse ways to ensure that the child's college experience will help him to learn discipline and time management, to stay physically active, to build a strong cohort of good friends, and to take in from a more mature perspective all the things gym can teach. If my son is interested and he can do his part to earn an academic scholarship to a school with a club team, at this point, I'd be inclined to support it.

He funny thing is, almost every single parent IS paying for this sport just for the love of it- they just haven't all admitted that to themselves yet.

 

[e'smum]

Thanks MIL.....you just made me feel a whole lot better about keeping my DD at her current gym because 'it's more fun'....

you have to keep it fun. if it's not fun, they will want to quit. fun is most important!

 

[GymSnax]

I agree with the article that kids need time to be kids and sometimes needs a break from ultra competitive sports. Although my daughter's gymnastics won't be without periods of difficulties, as long as she continues to love it, we'll continue to support her.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

My daughter will not be going to college on a sports ride. I have no idea how far she will make it in gym. But I am very grateful, she has down time and does other things. Her world is not just one place. A bad day in one the spaces she occupies (school, music, gym, language, the neighborhood) is not a tragedy, because there are other things..............

Something to be said for that.