Parents How do you handle late practice nights for your gymnasts?

[SuperDad7]

I’ve been wondering how other parents handle weekday gymnastics practices, especially when they end late, like around 8 PM—even for the little ones! After practice, there’s the scramble of picking them up, heading home, squeezing in a shower, dinner, and trying to wind them down for bed.

My 6-year-old in MAG can barely stay awake through all of this and sometimes even skips a proper dinner because he's so exhausted—especially after a long school day!

Thinking ahead to the future, when homework and school tasks start piling up, I honestly don’t know how I’ll keep up.

What does your post-gymnastics routine look like? Do you have any tips or tricks to make this transition smoother? I’d love to hear how you balance everything—especially keeping them on track for school the next day while letting them get the rest they need after such a long day!

 

[NutterButter]

It was hard but you will be surprised how organized gymnasts are! When my DD was still in elementary school I talked to her teachers each year and explained her gymnastics situation. Most were great about allowing her to turn in homework late and/or sending an email/note on days when she wasn't able to get it done because getting a good night sleep was prioritized over spelling or math problems. Once she got into middle school my DD would have these conversations with her teachers at the beginning of the year or as needed. School was a priority with our family but in my experience many teachers made it a priority to assign a lot of unnecessary homework (and many freely admitted this because 'that's what parents want). In general her teachers were very happy to accommodate her. We would also sometimes adjust her gym schedule depending on the homework situation, group projects or just needing a little more downtime or time to sleep. For example when my DD took calculus she would sometimes go to school 20-30 min late just to get the math out of the way because it was more efficient to do calculus problems at 4pm vs 9:30pm.

 

[RTT2]

Dinner in the car on the way home helps.

 

[ORgymmom]

Our gym has a daytime track and an evening track for girls at the same level, but the daytime program was invitation only and mine was definitely not invited. It was really hard when my kid was a young compulsory athlete and practicing until 8:30 and eating in the car after but at meets with teammates who were doing half-days of school, eating dinner at home, and going to bed at 7:30. It might have been harder for me than her, because I would get really annoyed with the daytime girls’ moms saying they could never do the evening practice. As if it was a choice for us!

My daughter became ruthlessly efficient about prepping for her week, eating and sleeping really well when she could, and getting homework done during downtime in the school day. Honestly, she was really tired when she was little so it was hard. We would take her to school at the last possible minute and probably had her do less chores at home than we should have to give her time to sleep and rest.

 

[BusyMomof2]

We're actually considering a move to a daytime program and I am dreaming of having my daughter home each evening. I just miss her on top of the challenges with logistics and late dinner/shower/catch up time. But I agree that gym has made her very organized with school - she gets her homework done in the window before after school/before practice, or brings what she needs in the car. I do not have to remind her or intervene (11-years old, 5th grade). We do a hearty snack before practice, basically a small dinner, and then I pack a large snack for during practice so she has another smaller meal when she's done showering. It's a routine at this point and it doesn't take much effort anymore.

 

[skschlag]

We had the same thing for my son up until he was 16. I usually had dinner in the car for him to eat before practice, and lots of snacks to eat during/after. As he got older, he was better at eating after.

Homework was done in the car (we had an hour drive). I also talked to teachers to get more time on work in elementary school. By middle school, he had it down to a science.

In high school he switched to a day program and that made a huge difference. He did high school half day (with a zero hour class and online class), and then practiced 2-6. That was amazing!

How many hours is he practicing right now? That can add up quickly as well. Eventually, he will settle in and adjust, and really, as said above, develop amazing time management skills!

 

[S_Flips]

It depends if they are more tired at night or in the morning. You could pack gym and school bags at night or before school. In middle school, I use study hall, and P.E. exemptions to finish homework. If I have more, I do it before practice, in the car, or after practice if I have to. I eat dinner in the car on the way home, and then shower before bed. All you can do is try your best, and get good sleep on days you don’t have gym.

 

[CluelessGymMom]

We have a long drive to gym, so schoolwork is done in the car. Often dinner is prepared ahead and eaten in the car. That way bath or shower, teeth, and bed are all our daughter has to worry about when she gets home.

 

[SuperDad7]

We had the same thing for my son up until he was 16. I usually had dinner in the car for him to eat before practice, and lots of snacks to eat during/after. As he got older, he was better at eating after.

Homework was done in the car (we had an hour drive). I also talked to teachers to get more time on work in elementary school. By middle school, he had it down to a science.

In high school he switched to a day program and that made a huge difference. He did high school half day (with a zero hour class and online class), and then practiced 2-6. That was amazing!

How many hours is he practicing right now? That can add up quickly as well. Eventually, he will settle in and adjust, and really, as said above, develop amazing time management skills!

That daytime program sounds like a dream—haha!

Right now, he’s training 7 hours a week, with two 3.5-hour practices. Honestly, I feel like the weekday practices affect me more than they do him at this point! But learning from your comment, I think having him eat dinner in the car will already make things a lot easier for both of us.

He’s still in kindergarten, so there’s barely any homework (if any), which is a relief. I’m trying to prepare for how things will shift when schoolwork and more hours come into play, though. Did you feel like the jump to more hours and balancing school got harder as your son got older, or did he adapt pretty naturally over time?

 

[skschlag]

He’s still in kindergarten, so there’s barely any homework (if any), which is a relief. I’m trying to prepare for how things will shift when schoolwork and more hours come into play, though. Did you feel like the jump to more hours and balancing school got harder as your son got older, or did he adapt pretty naturally over time?

He adjusted over time. Since we had a drive, it was harder on me with meal prepping, and figuring out what to do when we were down there. But he did figure out how to make it work.

We also allowed him to take nights off. He would miss if he had a lot of homework, or a test. He would also miss for speech and debate tournaments, football games, basketball games, dances. This allowed him to keep balance in his life with gym and school.

 

[Klaws]

No such thing as a “daytime” program in Australia - only when you’re already right up there. So we deal with this as a matter of course and everyone does it.
My son, now 16, is now training 16 hours per week and training for the past 6 years has finished at 8-8:30. Even before that the finishes were still 7-7:30, so not much different really. He eats before training - usually a banana. During training it’s a muesli bar. He has dinner after training which is about 15-30 mins after he finishes training. Then it’s shower and bed. Even when he was little, he was tired enough that he just crashed. We didn’t need to let him wind down!

If he’s falling asleep quickly after training, dinner in the car. He must get that nourishment.

And screw homework. 99.99% of it will be a complete waste of his time. Homework should be banned. It is unnecessary if teachers ACTUALLY did their job in class. If they ask why he didn’t do his homework, ask why they’re not doing their job in class.

I do t think a six year old should be training this late. They should be max two hour sessions and 6-8 hours per week. Their little bodies need more rest. But, I appreciate how hard a good MAG program is to find and we don’t have the luxury of just choosing another gym.