Parents How did your dd get into gymnastics?

[thefellowsmom]

We started out at The Little Gym when my daughter was just about a year old. She wasn't even remotely interested in walking at that point and her doctor suggested that I get her involved in some sort of large motor skill activity, so off to the little gym we went. We were there until she was three and over that time, I learned a lot about my daughter. She wasn't not walking because she couldn't but because she wanted to make sure she had it all figured out in her head before she tried it. She is like that with a lot of things and I am very grateful to gymnastics for giving her the confidence to try something and fail at it. That failing is great and the road to success.

Well, The Fellows loves structure and she wants to know how to do things the right way and she started getting bored with the "games" at the little gym and wanted to do "real gymnastics". So I took her to the local gym. She was put in a developmental class, moved to pre-team right before she turned 5 and recently was moved to level 4, although she won't compete until next year.

From the moment we walked into the "real gym" she was hooked. I swear she would live there if I let her. She thrives on the structure, hard work and repetition and loves the preciseness of gymnastics. She may not be the first one to throw a new skill, but it looks great when she does get it.

Everyone talking about dance classes makes me laugh. I put her in a couple of dance classes when she was three and four and she hated it. She thought it was so boring and spent most of the time making faces at herself in the mirror I also tried all kinds of different sport classes and camps during the summer to introduce her to other things. Many of my friends were concerned with how focused she was on one thing at such a young age. But, I would ask her how it went and if she like it or had a good time and she would be all "Sure, it was fun -- Can I go back to the gym now?"

I just asked if she wanted to take a dance class once a week this summer. I thought it would be something to do on off days and even sold it to her as improving her gymnastics, but she didn't bite, just told me she had already tried that and didn't like it. Then informed me we could go to open gym instead. Sigh... She is learning to play the piano and is loving that

I did a couple of rec gymnastics classes when I was a kid, but horses were my thing. I rode competitively and seriously starting at a pretty young age. I remember being 3 or 4 and my dad putting me in front of him on horse and deciding then and there that there was nowhere in the world I would rather be. By the time I was 8 I had my sights firmly set on the Olympics. When I was about 11 or 12, I had outgrown the training available in the place we lived and my family would have needed to move to pursue my dream further. They decided they weren't going to do that and that was that. I think this experience gives me perspective and appreciation for her passion and it helps me to listen to how she needs me to support her.

 

[mamaoftwo]

My DS was born shortly before DD turned 3. A couple of weeks later I received a flyer in the mail for the local gymnastics club. In an attempt to give DD something that was "hers", I signed her up for a mommy and me class. She absolutely hated it! Actually, I think she was afraid. She most hated the bars and would refuse to grasp the bar anytime she was asked. She cried every time we went, and after four sessions, I just said forget it! Gym apparently wasn't her thing (or so I thought!).

Fast forward one year later. DD's little friend had been taking classes at the same gym and DD overheard her friend's mom talking to me about it. After they left, DD asked if she could take gymnastics again, as her 4th birthday present. She begged and begged and begged until I finally relented. I signed her up for the summer session - that year you were able to purchase as many or as few classes as you wanted. I started with the minumum 4 classes, figuring I didn't want to waste too much money on something she wouldn't like. Well, apparently DD was ready then, as we added on the rest of the session and it's now been 3 years! And the bars have been her most favorite event since the second attempt!

 

[emorymom]

We started doing Mommy and Me right before DS was born. DD loved gym.

 

[UnoMas]

Older DD took dance when she was 3-5. When she was 3, she went with a friend to gymnastics and ended up signing up for one semester. She LOVED gym. I made her choose between dance and gym and pushed for dance since it was cheaper!!! So she did dance till she was 5 1/2 and we moved across the country...the whole time making me promise that someday she could take gym again. It took me a year to get her signed up for gym after we moved, and I did it mainly because of little DD who had developmental and motor delays but was "graduating" from physical therapy at age 3. The doctors told me to "get her in a gym class to help with coordination". So when older DD was 6.5 she went back to gym and by age 7 was on L4 team. She is now 10 and a 2nd year L5. Little DD started in the preschool class at age 3 and at about 4.5, to my AMAZEMENT, was asked to be in the advanced preschool class (fast track to TOPs and team). When she was just a month shy of 5 she started in L2 and is now 7 and a second year L4. She continues to struggle in some areas but shines in others! Tiny DD has taken gym for about 2 years now and is still in rec classes but is going to try all-star cheer next!

I would do it over again, except I wish I would have let older DD stay in gym from the time she was 3. We would always find her walking along the top of the monkey bars in the backyard and we got so used to seeing it, we didn't really notice it. She could FLY across those monkey bars at age 3. People would see it and freak out! I wonder if she would be much further along now...oh well. What's funny is that now her love of dance is picking back up. She was recently asked to audition for the "company" at her dance studio and of course she wants to do that too...

 

[gymnastmom38]

How did your dd get into gymnastics?
DD did ballet when she was 3/4 which had 10 minutes of tumbling. That 10 minutes of the class was the ONLY part that she liked. After her recital she told me she never wanted to dance again and asked if I'd sign her up for gymnastics. I signed her up the next week and that was 4 years ago (and she's gone ever since).

Did you ever do gymnastics?
Yes, I was a gymnast in elementary school and loved it. Thankfully I still have a little of my flexibility and remember certain things so that I can help her at home when she asks for opinions.

Would you do it all over again?
I've never looked back and can't imagine dd asking to quit. She has never once told me she wanted to quit and I'm so proud of her. Can't wait to see what she'll accomplish and how far she'll go, if she chooses to.

 

[Mom2Gymgirls]

My youngest daughter had way more energy than she knew what to do with. We tried dance, but she didn't really care for it that much. We first signed up for one of those mommy and me gym classes when she was 2, and I spent most of the session chasing her all over the gym. We quit for a while after that session, but tried it again when she was a little over 3, and she's loved it ever since so far.

I did gymnastics for a couple years when I was little but quit by the time I was around 8 or so. I was too much of a chicken. I really liked dance though and did that for several years. Interestingly enough, none of my 3 kids have really cared much for dance. It was too boring for them, and they didn't like wearing tights. My middle dd also did gymnastics for about 6 years but she was done once the middle school years rolled around. There were just too many other things that she wanted to do.

 

[Bajanswife]

There's some background to Dani getting into gymnastics. Back when DS was a toddler, around 2001, I was looking for things to do with him on Saturdays, because DH was always off working on some boat or the other lol. I found out from friends about a gym that did parent/toddler classes, and went to watch a class. It seemed like it would be good for coordination, and would be fun, so we signed up. Then when my older DD Katie was a toddler I signed her up, and had DS do kindergym right afterwards. But the classes weren't cheap, and we couldn't afford to keep doing gym. Fast forward to Katie being 6 and having a friend do recreational gym, and I signed her up for a year (this was in 2007). That Christmas Canadian friends who were visiting saw all the acrobatics that Dani could do, and encouraged me to put her into gym. I hesitated for a while because having 2 in gym would be financially tough, and Dani was too young to do rec with her sister (she'd have to do kinder). But I sent her to gymnastics camp with her sister in the summer, and after seeing her potential the HC told me she'd take her in rec in September, even though she wasn't quite 6 yet. The 2 girls did rec for a year, after which time they were both invited to try out for team, and both got accepted. Katie decided against team in favor of ballet (schedules conflicted) and Dani joined team. That was sep 2009. She went straight into Level 3, and then moved to Level 4 in Sep 2010.

I have never done gymnastics - in fact, I hate to be upside down, and for that reason have never managed to do handstands or cartwheels, even as a limber kid! I have done ballet as a child and jazz dance as an adult, and so I pick up Dani's routines quickly from watching her and can help her memorize them at home if she asks for help. I remember when Dani was having trouble in Level 3 with the chasse split leap on floor, and the HC showed me the step so I could work with DD on it.

I don't regret getting Dani involved in gym; in fact, I almost regret not getting her involved sooner, though realistically the team wasn't ready for new members the year before (new coaches in 2008 allowed the team to expand), and I wasn't ready for the expense!

 

[Deanna]

Well, Kadee as many was a furniture climber. She was ALWAYS on top of something. Child safty gates where purely a challenge in her eyes. She had an indoor slide/swing set (one of those plastic little tykes ones). She would climb up the slide then up on top of the brace the swing hung down from. She would be perched up there happy as a little lark whenever she got the chance. She was always climbing on something. So at 2 1/2 we were looking for something to put her in, structured persay, to get out some of that energy. Husband saw a sign where the local gym (when we were still in Jersey) was enrolling for spring classes. Signed her up for a Mommy and me class. She went through one season of that, then started preschool at the gym (we have been blessed to belong to gyms in both Jersey and Arkansas that has a preschool in the same facility as the gym)..she did a preschool gym class each day (she went 2 days a week to preschool) and she had an advanced preschool class on saturdays. We were there for about a year total when my husbands job relocated us to Ar. (different town than we are in now). She went to a gym in that town for about 6 months in a pre-team class. (they start competeting L3). We were there 6 months then moved to where we are now (again..job relocation..finally told his job, this is it...no more moving). She has been at the gym she is at now for almost 2 yrs. We moved here 2 days before she turned 4 yrs old. She started at the gym the following week. (when we had come looking at rentals and such we had checked out the gym..and already had her signed up for a free trial). She came in..they ran her through the hoopla..and decided they wanted her on their team, BUT she was too young. Even though they compete L2..they do not have any team members under 5. So she went into another pre-team class..just her and the other 2 little L2s she was with this year. Then once the season started last year they all moved to officaly train L2. She competed L2, and is now training L3. She loves gymnastics. She has told me, one of the places she enjoys being the most is in the gym. She said she loves getting hot and sweaty...her hands hurting, her muscles aching. She is only 5 (will be 6 in Aut) so im sure this whole view will change as she gets older..lol. But for now..as this is what she wants, and she is having a great time..I will support her to the moon and back. (mentaly, emotional..and financialy (the best i can)). I cant say there ever will be a day I will or wont regret the way things played out. Or that I wouldnt have done things differently looking back with 20/20 vision. But for now..with her just sticking her little toes in the door of this sport...i think all is well right now.