Off Topic I quit

[Gymnast2009]

I finally quit. For months I have been in a slump, not getting skills, not making friends with teammates, teammates my age are incredibly rude, I only have friends there that are like 4 years younger. My parents have been begging me to go to practice for months btu I have been holding out saying I will enjoy meet season better. i Feel bad because my parents have already paid meet fee, coaches fee, leotard, warm ups, tank Leo, backpack, but I just couldn’t. They are supportive but aren’t going to just buy me skates and lessons because wanna do figure skating now. Which I understand, but I want to know how can I convince them to buy me skates and lessons. My mom offered open skate and skate rentals, but the skate rentals are hockey skates and i don’t want to get used to them. I am already tied up with trying to come up 700 dollars for a specific puppy I have my eye on, and I don’t know how to come up with another 70 for skates. How can I convince them to. Skates aren’t too bad, pretty much the price of an expensive tank Leo, about 60-80 dollars. I don’t want to look spoiled and demanding.

 

[Coach Kate]

Honestly, I also quit mid season and I paid my parents back for the meet fees and other costs that couldn't be recouped. It sounds like you need to choose between the puppy and skating right now, and/or accept your mom's offer in the meantime.

 

[Flippinmom]

Is it a specific breed you’re interested in? Or a specific puppy that’s ready to go home by a certain date? If it’s a breed in general, maybe you can put the goal for saving the $700 on hold, and prioritize saving the $70 for the skates. You can offer to do chores for cash to cover the cost. Hopefully it will help your parents out AND show them you’re willing to put in the effort to accomplish your goal. Attend open skate, be consistent, and have fun! While you’re learning to figure skate, you can save for your puppy

 

[Pineapple_Lump]

Honestly, I'd pay your parents back and put the puppy on hold for the meantime. Also perhaps with the extra time you will now have - see if you can volunteer/assist at a puppy school/rescue group. You still get to enjoy being around puppies/dogs, you can do the skating, your parents will appreciate your maturity and you are going to learn a lot for when you do have your own pup!

 

[GymDadWA]

Talk with the ice skating coach and/or the rink, there might be an old pair of skates you could have/use. Lot of hockey and skating gear collecting dust when the kids out grow them just looking for a new home to go to.

 

[Gymnast2009]

Talk with the ice skating coach and/or the rink, there might be an old pair of skates you could have/use. Lot of hockey and skating gear collecting dust when the kids out grow them just looking for a new home to go to.

That’s a great idea!

 

[Carly]

That’s a great idea!

If that doesn't work, you could also try a facebook group near you where people give away stuff for free. There are some by me called Pay it forward with the location name or Buy Nothing. The ones I've seen allow you to post when you're in search of something. I would ask one of your parents to do this for you just to be safe or at least have them go with you for pickup if you find something. Usually people will just leave the stuff outside somewhere for pickup.

 

[Gymnast2009]

If that doesn't work, you could also try a facebook group near you where people give away stuff for free. There are some by me called Pay it forward with the location name or Buy Nothing. The ones I've seen allow you to post when you're in search of something. I would ask one of your parents to do this for you just to be safe or at least have them go with you for pickup if you find something. Usually people will just leave the stuff outside somewhere for pickup.

My mom is part of a bunch of those already! We tried, no one has skates in good condition in my size.

 

[Dragonfly]

I finally quit. For months I have been in a slump, not getting skills, not making friends with teammates, teammates my age are incredibly rude, I only have friends there that are like 4 years younger. My parents have been begging me to go to practice for months btu I have been holding out saying I will enjoy meet season better. i Feel bad because my parents have already paid meet fee, coaches fee, leotard, warm ups, tank Leo, backpack, but I just couldn’t. They are supportive but aren’t going to just buy me skates and lessons because wanna do figure skating now. Which I understand, but I want to know how can I convince them to buy me skates and lessons. My mom offered open skate and skate rentals, but the skate rentals are hockey skates and i don’t want to get used to them. I am already tied up with trying to come up 700 dollars for a specific puppy I have my eye on, and I don’t know how to come up with another 70 for skates. How can I convince them to. Skates aren’t too bad, pretty much the price of an expensive tank Leo, about 60-80 dollars. I don’t want to look spoiled and demanding.

No need to pay hundreds of dollars for a puppy. Consider rescuing one from a shelter.

 

[Gymnast2009]

No need to pay hundreds of dollars for a puppy. Consider rescuing one from a shelter.

I need hypo allergenic and those are hard to find at shelters. We’ve looked.

 

[bookworm]

I think you need to back off and let your parents recover from the hundreds of dollars they won't recoup from your gymnastics expenses for meet fees, leos etc. Trying to "get them " to fork over 770 bucks for a puppy and skates right after leaving gymnastics (and I'm not saying you should have stayed if you hated it) comes off as "spoiled and demanding"

 

[GymOwl]

I think you need to back off and let your parents recover from the hundreds of dollars they won't recoup from your gymnastics expenses for meet fees, leos etc. Trying to "get them " to fork over 770 bucks for a puppy and skates right after leaving gymnastics (and I'm not saying you should have stayed if you hated it) comes off as "spoiled and demanding"

Did OP ever flat out say they asked their parents for $770 for a puppy? I’m genuinely asking because it sounds like they themselves are in the process of saving up $700 for the puppy, and are considering asking their parents to help to pay $70 for just the ice skates.

I do agree on paying the parents back for the comp leo, meet fees, etc. and volunteering at an animal adoption center to be around puppies while doing extra chores to continue saving up for the puppy.

Edit: also agree on them taking up on moms offer to do open skate. Definitely don’t wanna fork over $70 for a pair of skates just to try out a new sport they’re not 100% on board with yet.

 

[raenndrops]

I finally quit. For months I have been in a slump, not getting skills, not making friends with teammates, teammates my age are incredibly rude, I only have friends there that are like 4 years younger. My parents have been begging me to go to practice for months btu I have been holding out saying I will enjoy meet season better. i Feel bad because my parents have already paid meet fee, coaches fee, leotard, warm ups, tank Leo, backpack, but I just couldn’t. They are supportive but aren’t going to just buy me skates and lessons because wanna do figure skating now. Which I understand, but I want to know how can I convince them to buy me skates and lessons. My mom offered open skate and skate rentals, but the skate rentals are hockey skates and i don’t want to get used to them. I am already tied up with trying to come up 700 dollars for a specific puppy I have my eye on, and I don’t know how to come up with another 70 for skates. How can I convince them to. Skates aren’t too bad, pretty much the price of an expensive tank Leo, about 60-80 dollars. I don’t want to look spoiled and demanding.

Are any of the fees refundable? Meets usually have a cut-off date for full refunds, so if that hasn't passed yet, your former coaches could withdraw you and get the refund.
Also, if the gym collects meet fees for the whole season in advance, there is a possibility that they haven't paid the meet fees yet. In that case, as long as you didn't leave owing anything, they should be able to give at least a partial refund.
I would also try to get at least part of the coaches fees refunded because they won't be coaching you in the meets, so that will be one less gymnast which might make a difference in the number of coaches they ned to take or the number of hours the coaches have to be at the meets.
You could also consider selling the gym gear if you have received it. If not, see if the gym would send it all back or be willing to sell them at the gym for less and give you a percentage of the sale.

 

[HopefulGymnast]

I'm so confused by everyone saying she should pay back the meet fees. I don't know what a normal allowance is in the US, but if she gets like 10 dollars per month then that's a huge amount of time and work she's put in on saving for a puppy. The income of a kid isn't comparable to that of an adult. I got the impression meet fees and leos can be in the hundreds of dollars, that's just an insane amount for a kid to pay back, right? I feel like I'm missing something, not trying to be rude but genuinely curious.

 

[Coach Kate]

I'm so confused by everyone saying she should pay back the meet fees. I don't know what a normal allowance is in the US, but if she gets like 10 dollars per month then that's a huge amount of time and work she's put in on saving for a puppy. The income of a kid isn't comparable to that of an adult. I got the impression meet fees and leos can be in the hundreds of dollars, that's just an insane amount for a kid to pay back, right? I feel like I'm missing something, not trying to be rude but genuinely curious.

I had a paper route and babysat from age 11 until I started coaching and working in a restaurant my mom managed at age 14. I think we are all saying that instead of saving for an expensive puppy, OP should instead put that towards recouping costs of gymnastics before trying a new activity, OR accepting her mom's offer of the cheaper version of skating. I was older when I quit gymnastics, 17, and was also choreographing floor routines by then. When I quit gymnastics, I switched to a much cheaper school sport anyway so my parents were happy to pay the $75 fee for me to be on the track team.

 

[HopefulGymnast]

I had a paper route and babysat from age 11 until I started coaching and working in a restaurant my mom managed at age 14. I think we are all saying that instead of saving for an expensive puppy, OP should instead put that towards recouping costs of gymnastics before trying a new activity, OR accepting her mom's offer of the cheaper version of skating. I was older when I quit gymnastics, 17, and was also choreographing floor routines by then. When I quit gymnastics, I switched to a much cheaper school sport anyway so my parents were happy to pay the $75 fee for me to be on the track team.

Thank you for answering, I appreciate it.

Oh right, for us school was super intense so I was never allowed a job as a kid (rightly so imo, I'd have gotten burnt out). On a sidenote, I thought gymnast2009 was 13 because it sais 13 under her name, and where I'm from you'd make very little with a job at that age. I don't know US labour laws though.
Personally, I think it depends a lot on how much money is involved. If she'd have to pay 2 years worth of savings back to her parents, I'd think that's not a fair thing to ask.
However, if it's a lot less then I can see where everyone is coming from. Parent's are making sacrifices for you, and it's important to show them that you appreciate that and not just ask more and more from them when they're already giving a lot.

My personal advise:
I think some people here might come across a bit harsh by accident because they see the parents point of view strongly. I'll try and keep your side into account:
Your parents paid a lot of money for you, make sure you show them you appreciate this. Asking for money for something else right after you'd just quit gymnastics with those costs could be a bit hurtful to your parents, making them feel not appreciated.
If it's doable, I'd either buy the skates and get the dog later, or use rented skates for now. I don't think you'll learn bad habits in just a few classes, and you can always tell the coach your worries. If you can offer to pay your parents back, that would of course be a nice gesture that they'd likely appreciate. However I think you're the only one who knows just how long you've had to save up for the money and how much it is for your parents, so that's something I feel we can't judge.
As for 'I don't want to look spoiled/demanding' in general: kids/teens are like that sometimes, it's not the end of the world, but I think the more important thing is taking your parents' feelings into account.

I hope my take on this isn't too wild because it may just be my different background speaking...

 

[Gymnast2009]

I do not have a job. I do not get allowance. That’s because my parents are generous and pay for everything i want to do within reason. I want to the movies with friends, they pay for me to go. I want Starbucks one mornino because its an ungodly hour before school and i have a ton of tests that day, they buy it for me. It’s within reason, they teach me The value of money. My only income is birthday, christmas, Eid. (my mom is christian and my dad is Muslim so we celebrate both) i have started a small business and am vendoring at local events. I sell bracelets, sugar scrubs, and candles. my birthday is October 24th. My birthday party is at an ice rink. It was decided before i even realized i wanted to do it as a sport. My parents are giving me money to get ice skates, skate covers, leg warmers, new leggings, and some new candle wax and supplies. Total is about 200 dollars excluding party price. They don’t expect me to pay back costs. I have no real income. They think my business should be my money. I have tried to give some. They refuse. The price of my grades dropping, me being unhappy, or too tired to function is way more to them than hundreds of dollars in meet fees. The puppy i wanted had a go home date and someone got it, so now i am not trying to get money for a dog. Whenever it’s the right time, i will get the right puppy. On that note. Does anyone know a toy or mini poodle breeder?

 

[bookworm]

I do not have a job. I do not get allowance. That’s because my parents are generous and pay for everything i want to do within reason. I want to the movies with friends, they pay for me to go. I want Starbucks one morning because its an ungodly hour before school and i have a ton of tests that day, they buy it for me.

Whenever it’s the right time, i will get the right puppy. On that note. Does anyone know a toy or mini poodle breeder?

Are we being scammed on this post?

 

[Gymnast2009]

Are we being scammed on this post?

What do you mean by that? I am not trying to scam anyone. Should I not have asked for breeder suggestions? I’m so sorry if I did something wrong.

 

[gymjunkie]

I need hypo allergenic and those are hard to find at shelters. We’ve looked.

Don't give up looking. We have gotten all of our hypoallergenic dogs from rescues, ranging in age from 5 months to 18 months of age. You just have to keep looking. We always found a good one within a few weeks of looking.