Parents "gymnastics makes me too tired"

[dani4]

Ligymmom is definitely on to something here, in fact I pretty much said the same thing in a conversation about DD today- "tired" is really a code word for something else that she doesn't have the vocabulary to describe. And there is something going on in her gymnastics class. Her coach approached me today to ask if there is something we do to get her attention when she's drifting, or a way to get her to focus. She is off daydreaming a lot, and the coach says it's not really misbehaving, but she is missing out on some valuable gym time. I've seen her do this before- but I didn't really have anything to say, I don't know what to do. I was the same way as a child, and I still have a tendency to get distracted.

Anyway when I talked to DD about it she said that she doesn't always pay attention because she's "too tired." I don't think she's actually too tired. There's no way, not with the way she voluntarily jumps all over the place.

I think she does have high expectations for herself, and she's afraid that's she's not meeting them. She talks about kids she sees who are "so good" at gymnastics- and other things, in other contexts. If I tell her that I think she's good at something she doesn't usually agree. But she's not timid- she tries to do everything and she appears to be trying hard, she's known for being tenacious.

Anyway there are only a few more weeks left in her class, and it's almost time to register for the winter session. Today DD said that she wants to go back to rec. And I'm going to put her back in rec for the next session. I think there's a little "grass is greener" syndrome going on, but I see no reason to argue with her. She still wants to do gymnastics. It will actually make my life a lot easier, because she will be in the same gym as younger DD, so I won't be running around so much and I can sit and watch them at the same time. I think part of the reason she wants to go back to rec is that she wants to be around her little sister, though they won't be in the same class.

 

[mommyof1]

Anyway there are only a few more weeks left in her class, and it's almost time to register for the winter session. Today DD said that she wants to go back to rec. And I'm going to put her back in rec for the next session. I think there's a little "grass is greener" syndrome going on, but I see no reason to argue with her. She still wants to do gymnastics. It will actually make my life a lot easier, because she will be in the same gym as younger DD, so I won't be running around so much and I can sit and watch them at the same time. I think part of the reason she wants to go back to rec is that she wants to be around her little sister, though they won't be in the same class.

Sounds like she really is overwhelmed and you have a good plan. She is young and has plenty of time--no need to push her faster than she is ready to go.

 

[dani4]

Sounds like she really is overwhelmed and you have a good plan. She is young and has plenty of time--no need to push her faster than she is ready to go.

Thanks! I need to remember that my daughter is extremely sensitive to pressure that many kids don't even realize is there. She might be physically capable of doing gymnastics, but it might be best to let her stay out of the competition-track. The funny thing is that she is not shy at all and she's a huge show-off/performer, it's just the whole concept of being judged or evaluated stresses her out. We have seen this in other areas- she is very resistant to any testing, so for the longest time I didn't know that she could recognize letters and numbers. She let it slip by accident once . I'm hoping she grows out of it, because testing is unfortunately a fact of life in America.