Parents Love/Hate relationship of gymnastics

[Flossyduck]

Love for my dd: the pure pleasure and buzz she gets from being able to do these amazing things. I was watching her doing aerial cartwheels by the river yesterday - no-one around, no-one watching and she thought I was reading. She just looked so happy and getting a complete thrill from what she was doing all for herself.

Love for me: the confidence, discipline and work ethic which I can see is benefiting her in school and other areas of life. She comes from a shy family.

Hate for dd: When she goes in all positive and tries so hard and has a bad day anyway.

Hate for me: Watching her hurting and beating herself up over it.

 

[Pea'sMom]

Love - Pea's confidence (she's a self doubter by nature) and feeling super special on the playground at school Love the bond she has with her teammates.

Dislike - Dinner's without her more then with her and how much the family gives up (money, time, etc)

 

[2gymkids]

Love: The confidence and joy it brings my DD. She is truly her happiest at the gym, with her gym friends, doing gymnastics.

Hate: The jealousy of the rec parents in the observation area who make comments like "well, I guess my daughter wasn't good enough to be invited to pre-team" in snotty voice to their friend but so that the pre-team parents can hear it. Can't we all just just support our kids at whatever level they're at. No, if your 10 year old can barely to a backwards roll, they're probably not going to be a competitive gymnast. And that's ok. Just let them have fun!

 

[Mom2littlebit]

Love = watching littlebit blow everyone in her gym out of the water. Practice and meets.

Hate= listening to moms say she's only better because she is a natural. (What does that mean anyway?)

Hate= having to smile at those moms and say " she works hard, and wants to be the best".

Love= watching her face light up when she nails a new skill, or beats the optionals at a new drill. ( just l4)

Oh I could go on all day.
Truly love the sport definitely would like to change a few things about her gym, but unfortunately not possible.

 

[cbifoja]

Im curious about this part, I haven't expeience this YET but then we tend to keep to ourselves? What do you see as parental competition?

What IWBM said plus things like:

• so and so got moved up, but mine didn't and I insist that she gets moved up.
• why does so and so get to come x hours but mine only comes y hours.
• so and so has a better floor routine than my child has.
• so and so always gets to work with the best coaches and I insist that the whole program be re-vamped so that mine gets equal time with the same coaches.
• so and so always gets to go last during meets and that's why she gets higher scores than mine.
• Coach A likes so and so more and spends more time giving her corrections.

Just petty stuff like that. It gets worse during competition season. And so and so is never the same person so there is plenty of opportunities to be disgruntled if you are so inclined! LOL

 

[happychaos]

Love = watching littlebit blow everyone in her gym out of the water. Practice and meets.

Hate= listening to moms say she's only better because she is a natural. (What does that mean anyway?)

Hate= having to smile at those moms and say " she works hard, and wants to be the best".

Love= watching her face light up when she nails a new skill, or beats the optionals at a new drill. ( just l4)

Oh I could go on all day.
Truly love the sport definitely would like to change a few things about her gym, but unfortunately not possible.

Oh my. Please be careful that your DD doesn't catch on to how much you love it when she is "beating" her teammates in drills, practice, and meets. I promise that the day will come when she is no longer the hotshot, and she'll need your support to get through the rough patches. Worrying that she will disappoint you adds tremendous pressure to a sport that can already be quite stressful to our little gymmies.

And please don't take offense to this....none is intended. I suspect most of us gym parents can relate to your statements more than we'd like to admit

 

[Mom2littlebit]

Oh my. Please be careful that your DD doesn't catch on to how much you love it when she is "beating" her teammates in drills, practice, and meets. I promise that the day will come when she is no longer the hotshot, and she'll need your support to get through the rough patches. Worrying that she will disappoint you adds tremendous pressure to a sport that can already be quite stressful to our little gymmies.

And please don't take offense to this....none is intended. I suspect most of us gym parents can relate to your statements more than we'd like to admit

Believe me I know. All of the above. I try to remain level headed and try to prepare myself for when "it" hits the fan. Right now it is just frustrating because I hear the other parents saying she gets favoritism and she really doesn't she just works hard, doesn't skimp on hours at the gym and listens to the corrections of the coaches. I hope she continues to work hard and progress all the time. I try to remain humble. I only love that she progresses despite everyone's complaining that she shouldn't get as much coach time because she is "natural" Lol.

 

[cbifoja]

deleted

 

[wgymmom]

Love: She has a passion for something. It keeps her busy and (for the later years) out of trouble!

Hate: Cost, financial and time, CRAP gym communication, being told one thing and seeing another, having to stress out about a stupid extracurricular.

 

[Mom2littlebit]

 

[littlegirlsdream]

Love watching DD performing an amazing sport she loves that takes so much time, focus and dedication. It is truly amazing to watch her struggle and over come many times over.

Hate watching her struggle and know I am helpless to fix it, hate the uncertainty of where it will lead and will it be worth it in the end.

 

[MILgymFAM]

Love: the time commitment- DD has no time to discover boys, and has become even more focused on school and other activities; the strength and grace of all the girls in the gym; the way the girls all support one other.

Hate: the monetary costs (and how exclusive they make the sport); the stratification that creates almost a caste system (Xcel vs JO vs USAIGC vs YMCA)- all these girls work their butts off, and that's the most important thing; the competition- DD loves it, but I am just not competitive and the whole -who is best- vibe just isn't for me.

 

[tarheel618]

Love: the time commitment- DD has no time to discover boys, and has become even more focused on school and other activities; the strength and grace of all the girls in the gym; the way the girls all support one other.

Hate: the monetary costs (and how exclusive they make the sport); the stratification that creates almost a caste system (Xcel vs JO vs USAIGC vs YMCA)- all these girls work their butts off, and that's the most important thing; the competition- DD loves it, but I am just not competitive and the whole -who is best- vibe just isn't for me.

Never thought of it that way before- good point

 

[gracyomalley]

Love : the strength, confidence and work ethic it develops. The time commitment during middle school! the need for the kids to learn to manage themselves, their relationships, disappointment and success, etc. watching them struggle and then do something they thought they'd never be able to do. Seeing all the team mates grow as well. The moment as a parent when you see your son's perfect handstand on pbars...or your child's 5 stories high lay out full, or graceful leaps and flips on a 4 inch beam almost as tall as she is....Mark Helprin talks about moments that "life becomes art" -

Hate: the money, the stress, the tears of frustration and self doubt, watching them struggle, the in-fighting between parents and the ugly inter-gym politics, trying to balance protecting your kids/being involved/knowing the environment they spend 20+ hours a week in with letting the coach coach and the kids develop independence....finding the balance between getting them access to opportunity without "taking over" or making it about my hopes for them...

 

[gymnastca25]

Love that my daughter is focused, determined, goal oriented,confident, strong, eats well and takes care of her body.
The only dislikes are the cost and no time for other activities.

 

[homer]

Love........that he is fit and strong and healthy and so commited to something at such a young age.....

Hate..........that he spends more quality time with his coach instead of me, that I am constantly questioning whether I am not involved enough or too involved, always wondering if it is right to spend so much time doing one activity.......
And fed up of always considering gym if I want to book a holiday!!

 

[RAMS]

Love: The confidence and maturity my daughter has at such a young age.
Hate: Driving to and from the gym 5 days a week and the time away from the family the sports takes.