- Feb 2, 2012
- 25
- 3
My dd is just starting her first season of competition. She is a first grader, and is a L4. She does practice three days a week, for three hours each. She absolutely loves it. She loves gym, the workout, the coaches, and her teammates.
This is also the first time I've experienced a couple of other parents talking about us not "allowing" her to have a real childhood. How being in the gym that much is "too much" for a girl her age. How she doesn't know any better, and it's up to us to let her know different.
I've really only experienced it twice. One of those times, I actually had a man refer to my dd's gym experience with "Toddlers and Tiaras". Ummm... no. Not even close. And the other was a woman who was a friend of a friend, but was very vocal about how much time our dd spends at gym.
I wonder what we're in for for the next couple of years if she continues... the girls at our gym just spend more and more time there, and I have a feeling it might be mine!
I do get a lot of funny looks though when I tell people our plans for the evening, to be at gym from 4 to 8 (with driving time included) in the evenings.
How do you deal with this as time goes on and it becomes more and more of your child's life? Ignore it? Defend it? We love that she loves it, and have no intention of letting any of this bother us. But it still is a little annoying that other people seem to know what's best for our family.
This is also the first time I've experienced a couple of other parents talking about us not "allowing" her to have a real childhood. How being in the gym that much is "too much" for a girl her age. How she doesn't know any better, and it's up to us to let her know different.
I've really only experienced it twice. One of those times, I actually had a man refer to my dd's gym experience with "Toddlers and Tiaras". Ummm... no. Not even close. And the other was a woman who was a friend of a friend, but was very vocal about how much time our dd spends at gym.
I wonder what we're in for for the next couple of years if she continues... the girls at our gym just spend more and more time there, and I have a feeling it might be mine!
I do get a lot of funny looks though when I tell people our plans for the evening, to be at gym from 4 to 8 (with driving time included) in the evenings.
How do you deal with this as time goes on and it becomes more and more of your child's life? Ignore it? Defend it? We love that she loves it, and have no intention of letting any of this bother us. But it still is a little annoying that other people seem to know what's best for our family.