Parents Not excited, but not sad

[Mamabear123]

DD is 7, just finished up L3 and training for L4. She loves gymnastics and she loves all the cool tricks and competitions. I read on here and talk to some of the other gym moms and it seems like everyone's kids want to live at the gym. DD tells evryone that gymnastics is her "passion" (yea ok kid, spell passion) lol, but she is not super excited to go to the gym. She would never be sad at missing a day of practice, but she's not sad about going either.
We had a talk about it last night and I asked her if she wants to stop and she said absolutly not, I asked if she wanted to go to Xcel and she said, absolutly not. She said that she loves going to the gym, but she also loves to stay around our neighborhood to play with her freinds.
Maybe I'm expecting an emotion out of her that she just doesn't have for gymnastics. She had no practice last week and when I asked her if she was excited about practice this week she said, "I guess, but I'd be excited to stay home too."
I don't know what I'm looking for here, maybe some words of encouragement or someone to commiserate with me. Something. Also, we have tried other sports. Swimming, dance and track.

 

[Seeker]

I think that's a healthy attitude, actually. Better to be well rounded and balanced in the long term. Plus -- she's 7.

 

[Mamabear123]

I think that's a healthy attitude, actually. Better to be well rounded and balanced in the long term. Plus -- she's 7.

Thank you for your response. So should I just take her blah attitude with a grain of salt? Basically follow her lead and give her encouragement? She tells me that once she gets there she's fine and has a lot of fun, but she's not excited about the thought of going.

 

[gymmomx2]

I don't think that's unusual. My kids say they love gymnastics and they don't want to quit but they are also excited anytime there's a day off. I think they spend so much time at the gym that any change to the routine is exciting.

Some kids would live at the gym but neither of mine would and that doesn't mean they don't love gym. They love gym but they also love things outside of gym. Personally, I think that's healthy

 

[MILgymFAM]

I think it sounds pretty normal, but... and this is just us and our financial situation... we wouldn't pay the amount of money required of JO gymnastics for an apathetic kid. I would absolutely pay for rec a few times a week, but if the fire wasn't there I couldn't justify the sacrifices that we make for gym. Now please understand I'm not talking about results here- it just has to be *the* thing that they love to do with their time.

 

[MuggleMom]

This is exactly how my daughter is as well. She does love gym. She hates having something to do EVERY DAY (she was over scheduled and fixing that has helped a lot) and she hates missing out on things cause of gym. But she definitely doesn't want to quit. She always has fun when she goes. She is in the same boat as your DD (7 training level 3/4). They are young, they are probably not future Olympians, their attitude is a good one . I wouldnt stress about it until they are unhappy that's when you have to evaluate options.

 

[Seeker]

Thank you for your response. So should I just take her blah attitude with a grain of salt? Basically follow her lead and give her encouragement? She tells me that once she gets there she's fine and has a lot of fun, but she's not excited about the thought of going.

Yes. If she didn't want to go or didn't like it, you would know.

 

[Mamabear123]

I think it sounds pretty normal, but... and this is just us and our financial situation... we wouldn't pay the amount of money required of JO gymnastics for an apathetic kid. I would absolutely pay for rec a few times a week, but if the fire wasn't there I couldn't justify the sacrifices that we make for gym. Now please understand I'm not talking about results here- it just has to be *the* thing that they love to do with their time.

This is my exact concern. This stuff is so expensive for her blah attitude. But on the same token, she just got the "hardest worker" award at the end of the year banquet. Her coaches would be shocked if they knew she had this attitude about gym.

 

[Mamabear123]

This is exactly how my daughter is as well. She does love gym. She hates having something to do EVERY DAY (she was over scheduled and fixing that has helped a lot) and she hates missing out on things cause of gym. But she definitely doesn't want to quit. She always has fun when she goes. She is in the same boat as your DD (7 training level 3/4). They are young, they are probably not future Olympians, their attitude is a good one . I wouldnt stress about it until they are unhappy that's when you have to evaluate options.

I have taken dance away, but I'm trying to get her to stick to track because she's so good at it. She does NOT like track. I did ler her know that the balance will only get more difficult the older she gets. Balancing L3 and first grade was a breeze. She never even had homework.
Also, if you ask her, she is absolutely going to be a future Olympian. Lol

 

[mommyof1]

Her attitude sounds refreshingly healthy to me. I have a super intense kiddo who lives for gymnastics, and the daily drama can be absolutely exhausting. If she's content, there's no other sport she prefers, and gym is financially and logistically feasible for your family, I wouldn't worry.

 

[Mamabear123]

Also, I'm wondering if her attitude stems from not having to desire to be on team. She didn't even know what team was or that there was even such a thing. She was invited to pre-team right after she turned 5. She was 5 so I didn't "discuss" anything with her. We just declined and they asked that she go to rec twice a week. One day a few weeks after her 6th birthday she came out of class with an envelope. It was a congratulations letter and I explained to her what it meant. She was like ok, soubds fun. And we went from there. This whirlwind of a ride is such an emotional roller coaster for me. I feel like a fish out of water.

 

[Gymmom0403]

There are times I wish my kid would be upset about missing other things due to gym. But she is quite the opposite. She is more than happy to miss everything in order to go to practice.
Your daughter is only 7. She's probably still trying to figure out what exactly she wants. Give it some time.

 

[4schnoodle]

I don't think my DD became fixated until she was older (10 maybe?) so I say enjoy the lax attitude while you still can.

 

[rosiekat]

She tells me that once she gets there she's fine and has a lot of fun, but she's not excited about the thought of going.

Hah, this is totally me with just about everything in life! Seriously, for me, a large part of the difficulty is that I'm an introvert, so the inertia of being at home can be hard to overcome. Once I get past that, I enjoy what I'm doing (well, stuff that's a choice, I'm not talking about grocery shopping!).

I think it is a totally normal behavior for a lot of people, and if she's still enjoying being there, let her keep going. If it becomes an ongoing fight to go, or it's not fun for her, then it is time to reassess. I also totally understand not wanting to spend this amount of money on something she is blah about - but it doesn't sound like she's there. I think I would keep encouraging her to try other things, because maybe something else is her real passion.

Also, bear in mind that you do have *some* control over her schedule. I know a few people who have stayed on team (both male and female) but not practiced the number of hours they are "supposed to." The parents were of the opinion that they were kids and deserved to have time to do other things, and as long as the kids kept progressing, the coaches dealt with it. (I'm sure they weren't thrilled, but they went along with it.) Some kids did eventually drop gym, but I'm betting stayed in it longer than they otherwise would have - and actually, most of the ones I know of who did that are actually excelling and doing better than most. (And I don't mean to sound like I know tons of people who have done that, but I can think of at least 4 off the top of my head.)

 

[gymnastmom05]

My DD was similar when she was younger. She LOVES gym but there were days (especially in the summer when she would have to stop playing with friends in the neighborhood to go to practice) when she would say she didn't really want to go then come home and all happy she went. I truly think it's the age. As she got older (like someone above said, I think closer to 9/10), gymnastics starting to become much more of "HER" passion. She loved it before, she would normally go without saying anything, she would even say she wouldn't mind going extra (if she was bored) but once she got a little older, SHE started planning her free time around gymnastics. The girls that truly didn't have passion have since quit the team. You will know. On the other side, we do have a few remaining girls on our team that regularly skip practice for social stuff, sleeping,etc. They most definitely have a take it or leave it attitude about gym and I am with the OP on this, it's way too expensive and time consuming for the entire family if your child is not committed (talking more about middle school/high school kids - and the fact that their skills are suffering and most repeat levels because of their attendance). My DD knows when she starts to fight me about going to practice or getting up early for practice that we're done. This is her choice to do this sport, I'm simply the money and transportation so I won't stand for complaining (at me, now venting at times is different). At this age, I would just go with it. When she starts throwing a fit about going each and every practice, then you should look into it more.

 

[CLgym]

My DD just turned 9 and will compete Level 6 this year.... She loves going to the gym, but as soon as she gets home she turns it off and is just a kid (not a gymnast). She likes to ride her bike, have water fights in the back yard with her brother, make slime, etc. She is not flipping all over town like others have reported here. She says that it is "showing off" to do gymnastics at school during recess. And she has absolutely NO interest in at-home conditioning. She doesn't even really like to talk that much about gymnastics. I do think that her less intense approach to gymnastics has resulted in her making slightly slower progress than some of her more intense teammates. But it's her sport, not mine. As long as she continues to put in good effort during practices (and her coaches have always given me good reports) then I will continue writing the checks.

So.... like others have said, I would just go with it. I think that pushing her to be more intense or serious or whatever could backfire anyway??

 

[gymisforeveryone]

I've heard about that kind of attitude from a lots of parents of my gymnasts. Some parents have expressed a concern about an attitude like that. But to be honest, most of the children seem to be that way at that age, and in all sports. They are always happy after practice but if they have to stop whatever fun they were doing at home and leave for practice they may not seem very excited about gym. I think we as adults are pretty similar. I always have a good time at parties but I may think I don't want to go if I have an option of doing something else nice (like laying on the sofa watching Netflix and eating chocolate)., At the moment getting dressed, going out and socializing with people may feel like less fun even if I know that I always enjoy parties. I may need a little push from a family member or a friend to get up and get going and when I actually end up going I most probably have really good time and think afterwards "why did I even consider staying home, I had soooo much fun". Then I go through the exact same mind set the next time. I think we are all just a little bit lazy inside and sometimes we need a little gentle push to get up and have fun.

 

[SMH]

I'd say now, at age 7 level 4 leave it. If she still is blah in the coming years, I'd re-evaluate, mostly because of cost/time- its expensive and time consuming to be a gymnast, and a parent of a gymnast.
I think her attitude about gym is fine/normal for a 7 yr old ( I also have a 7 yr old training level 4) - I don't think 100% of gymnasts are always super intense and focused on gymnastics. This sport just tends to encourage/create that mindset because of the commitment required at an early age.

 

[sce]

She is 7yo. She loves gym but is way too young to be all out committed. Totally normal. It's good that she enjoys spending time with friends. It's good that she has an activity she enjoys. At 7yo, it is hard to spend a lot of time committed to something while your friends are off playing. If she isn't balking at going to practice though, then I don't see an issue. I would stop asking if she's excited about practice. If she says she wants to do gymnastics, then take her to the practices eh is committed to. If she starts to say she doesn't want to do it anymore, then address it then. She may stick with gym all the way through college, she may quit in a year. Either way she is having fun and learning some great life lessons for now.

My dd was very committed to gym, while also doing some other activities she loves. 6 months ago she was starting to train level 5 and talking about making it to optionals afterwards. A few months ago she decided to do more of the other activities and last month she quit the gymnastics team. You just never know what the future holds. But I do not regret the years she spent in gym. She is strong and flexible and learned a lot about hard-work and resilience.

 

[Mamabear123]

I totally get what everyone is saying. She's ONLY 7 and has so much life to live and expericence. I will take the advice that if she starts to show disinterest then we will re-evaluate. Maybe look at it with a getting there is half the battle approach. I always tell her, I can't want this for her.