Parents Just a question

[lilgymmie7]

All gymmies have their little intricacies, really all children do. However, when did you as a parent know/sense that your DD or DS was getting more and more serious about gymnastics? My little DD has such an easy going attitude and has never (she really hasn't) displayed any outward stress over her gymnastics. She does take it seriously, but she just doesn't let mistakes wear on her. However, she practices her routines ALL the time and also speaks to her coaches often about her gymnastics.
She is only seven, and I am amazed at how mature she is. It seems like I will not have to worry much about this little one of mine. Are there any parents who find themselves in this same boat? Both of her older siblings are so shy,little DD is the complete opposite. I wonder if her little intricacies are due to her independent and out going personality or the fact that gymnastics is a big part of her life since she was five years old.

Question: When did you know your DD was getting more and more serious about gymnastics? What signs did they send? etc.

 

[jdf]

My daughter did not like any activity from toddlerhood on. Cried, carried on, hid her face. I was getting pretty worried. Finally, she tried gymnastics in third grade. In her first gymnastics class she was really shy, and a very sweet instructor took her hand and asked softly if she wanted to learn how to do a cartwheel. She did it perfectly, with great form, and I think it was that moment when she knew she was good. She really loves being good, and working to get better. She had a not so great meet last weekend when she fell off the beam twice, but was so excited that she jumped to the high bar with form for the first time. She is learning to handle the idea that she won't be great every time, but will have something good every time.

 

[sally]

When she had to decide on gymnastics or ballet as the were on the same time.

 

[Panda-girl's Mom]

My daughter did a lot of other activites from a young age. At 21/2 she begged to be pottytrained so her sisters dance teacher would let her come to her dance class. Actually at 2 she did another dance program and just loved being on the stage. When she was 4 she did cheerleading for the local little league she picked up the routines really well but she did not like being on the sidelines when thr boys were playing football. She did a tumbleclass at the same time and both teachers said she was good so I decided to see if she would like a real gym. She was put on a preteam within the year and asked to join the team at 7. Funny thing she did not understand what this meant and was unsure. At the time she did soccer and swimming. She eventually gave up the other sports for gymnastics. She is very independent and outgoing and there have been many times where she has wanted to quot. But then she changes her mind. I just think she likes the challenge of gymnastics, enjoys performing in front of the judges likes the comradery with the other gymnasts and likes the physical activity and conditioning of the sport. She will try other sports but always comes back with I am bored she never seems to get bored with gymnastics frustrated not bored.

 

[Optionals United]

well for me it was when we were going through a TON of coaching changes(like 10 not exagerating) (we were parent run couldnt find coaches that fit the enviroment without going into specifics. At this time i was around a level 6. I taught my self most of my level 6 skills(baby giants,clear hip,flyaway,lvl 6 beam dismount ect.) thiis was a very defining time for me. A lot of my teammates had left to go to other gyms and to this day I am like 1 of the 5 girls left from that time.

From this point on a new that gymnastics was my sport. No coach or parent could make me do skills I didnt want to do and I had to be dedicated if i wanted to become a successful Optional in the near future or just to learn new skills in general. At this point I really changed, I think it might have slowly developed but it was definatly there. I started learning a ton of new skills had a lot of new confidence in my gym, and started seeing better results. I had a fairly good first year of optionals the year after I had all those coaching changes.That was when I was about 10-12

Then this past summer i started going in the wrong direction. I wasnt confident in my skills, causing me a lot of stupid fears, started faking sick so i wouldnt have to go to gym so I wouldnt have to face my fears, i wanted to hang out with my friends more(im in 8th grade this year). All these things kept me back from competing level 8 this year so im doing a second year of level 7. Gym was starting to not be very fun anymore. I was putting myself under a lot of pressure if i wanted to eventually compete in college, i was thinking i have to compete this level this year and this lvl next year and i cant repeat a level ect. I was losing my way.It wasnt until really I started competing this season that I got a new fire. I saw that I could eventually be a level 8/9 next year if I worked hard enough for it. Before I had thought my gym journey was coming to an end because I wasnt progressing ect. But now as a level 7 I have really advanced skills.hehe. I beilve that my new confidence and fire from the beginning of this season was because of uptraining. I LOVE LOVE LOVE to uptrain, i would do it all the time. I love to learn new stuff and progress. So when I started getting new skills from uptraining it started to show me that I really could keep being successful in this sport.

So right now I have a very big fire burning inside of me,with lots of confidence, and dedication to the sport. I have hope of competing a 8/9 season next year which is possible(my coach has been telling me). I am continuing to keep a new level of seriousness in my gymnastics while still having fun. I learnd that I had to take my gymnastics day by day,practice by practice,hour by hour,move by move, not I need this skill right now. So this is kinda a summary of when I was 10 till now, but it shows how when you mature that you start to take stuff more seriously.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

truth spoken as an experienced gymnast.^^^

 

[Optionals United]

Why thank you Dunno!!! I have been through many challenges in my late compulasry/early optional years, and the state my gym was in was no help at all.But in a way it was because, I wouldnt be the same gymnast I am today without it.

Also in optionals my team was a lot closer, so a lot more supportive which made me want to be in the gym.It made me want to learn new skills and progress even more. I looked up to my older teammates alot. If you ask one of my teammates you will now that i txted her and the she later called me... over the situation I was in about level 8 this summer and I balled my eyes out for like an hour. I had told her that i wanted to quit or move gyms(not in a good situation with my coach because of lack of communication between us)That answers some of your questions that yes we do think about quiting for a long time before we actually tell someone.I had been thinking about quiting for like 2 months until the point of where I broke down that night. She was helpful because she had quit gym when she was in 6/7th grade as a levl 8/9 so she knew what i was going through about wanting to quit.(she is back in gym now after taking a year off so came back in about 8th grade competed level 8 and the did 9 as a freshman ans now is a 10 this year)It shows how more team dynamics and that family feel can have a big effect on your gymnastics experience.

 

[Monkeygirlsmom]

When they wanted to do nothing else and wanted to keep gong with gymnastics!

 

[ek2]

well for me it was when we were going through a TON of coaching changes(like 10 not exagerating) (we were parent run couldnt find coaches that fit the enviroment without going into specifics. At this time i was around a level 6. I taught my self most of my level 6 skills(baby giants,clear hip,flyaway,lvl 6 beam dismount ect.) thiis was a very defining time for me. A lot of my teammates had left to go to other gyms and to this day I am like 1 of the 5 girls left from that time.

From this point on a new that gymnastics was my sport. No coach or parent could make me do skills I didnt want to do and I had to be dedicated if i wanted to become a successful Optional in the near future or just to learn new skills in general. At this point I really changed, I think it might have slowly developed but it was definatly there. I started learning a ton of new skills had a lot of new confidence in my gym, and started seeing better results. I had a fairly good first year of optionals the year after I had all those coaching changes.That was when I was about 10-12

Then this past summer i started going in the wrong direction. I wasnt confident in my skills, causing me a lot of stupid fears, started faking sick so i wouldnt have to go to gym so I wouldnt have to face my fears, i wanted to hang out with my friends more(im in 8th grade this year). All these things kept me back from competing level 8 this year so im doing a second year of level 7. Gym was starting to not be very fun anymore. I was putting myself under a lot of pressure if i wanted to eventually compete in college, i was thinking i have to compete this level this year and this lvl next year and i cant repeat a level ect. I was losing my way.It wasnt until really I started competing this season that I got a new fire. I saw that I could eventually be a level 8/9 next year if I worked hard enough for it. Before I had thought my gym journey was coming to an end because I wasnt progressing ect. But now as a level 7 I have really advanced skills.hehe. I beilve that my new confidence and fire from the beginning of this season was because of uptraining. I LOVE LOVE LOVE to uptrain, i would do it all the time. I love to learn new stuff and progress. So when I started getting new skills from uptraining it started to show me that I really could keep being successful in this sport.

So right now I have a very big fire burning inside of me,with lots of confidence, and dedication to the sport. I have hope of competing a 8/9 season next year which is possible(my coach has been telling me). I am continuing to keep a new level of seriousness in my gymnastics while still having fun. I learnd that I had to take my gymnastics day by day,practice by practice,hour by hour,move by move, not I need this skill right now. So this is kinda a summary of when I was 10 till now, but it shows how when you mature that you start to take stuff more seriously.

Gymnastics is an easier decision when kids are young. Learning new skills is fun, school is easy(no homework), the hours required for gymnastics is less. I think optionals rocks! has the best answer. A girl knows she is serious about gymnastics when despite difficult situations in the gym, the social pull of doing other things besides gymnastics, and lots of long hours she says Yes! I am going to work my tail off to get those skills! AND most importantly when the skills become difficult and everything is not easy and she still wants to go to practice... this is when the dedication and determination to do gymnastics long term becomes real.

 

[Granny Smith]

Agreed with ek2. When your child has to miss her High School semi-formal for a gym meet (the brand new dress is still in the store bag hanging in the closet) or never gets to go to football games/wrestling matches/basketball games due to gym practice, but continues to plug along - that's where the love comes from. Splitting the beam on her beam series (multiple times) and just finally getting over a 2+ year twisting block, but looks forward to her next day at gym - that's where the love is. I always say it's a fine line because it's so true. There is a balance that needs to be in place and these girls can not sustain this level of gymnastics if they truly didn't want to be there. There are just too many hours that they put in and the overall commitment necessary, if they weren't committed they simply couldn't/wouldn't do it.

There were no signs shown, the seriousness came with time. It's easy to be committed when the girls are little, they really don't have anything they are personally giving up. It's when "real life" creeps in that the commitment happens. When they have peers who do things other than gym, it's when their bodies go through puberty and they start to grow. Homework seems to get piled on because you have a different teacher for every subject and they don't personally care if you are spending 4+ hours a day in the gym before you even step foot in the house at the end of the day or even worse have to miss a day of school because of course for some unknown reason it always seems the 9/10s compete on Fridays...

 

[lilgymmie7]

Thank you for such honest responses! Every child handles situations so differently. It sometimes is difficult to pinpoint why or how. I have felt so strongly that DD's gymnastics has really helped her to unfold in the manner that she has. I guess that is why as her parent, I have wanted to safely/healthly monitor her emotional unfolding as she ages. I don't want to fall prey to ignoring signs that I perceive as being healthy or befitting of her personality when in fact they may be the opposite and cause her stress. I know that while she is young, it is my job to forsee certain situations. I also am aware that slowly(probably quickly with DD), DD will be able to manage on her own. But then I am always brought back to square one, do I expect her to do so much, just because I perceive her to be so mature and able to handle so much? Parenting is hard!!
I truly am amazed at how easily she handles her meets and competing in front of other people. I remember being a nervous wreck with older DD because she almost always beat herself up when she made a mistake. I worried so much about having to 'clean up the mess' and wipe away her tears to make it all better. Watching little DD is such a breeze! I find myself focusing on her 'cute' facial features throughout, how quickly she mounts back on the bars without a worry, or her little wink or wave to me while she is on the floor. I just don't want to loose something in my translation!!