Parents On the topic of Crazy Gym Moms...

[sevenatenine2]

Thanks, all.

There are five in the group and on bars and beam they have four gymnastics stations and a rest station. On vault they will vault with me then come back on the Tumble Track. On floor, I still have a few that may need spots on their tumbling passes, so we do line up and corner tumble on that event. I will see what I can do to limit the standing in line.

We talk about focus a lot, and she and teammates do have consequences for those kinds of behaviors. Usually, if I get on to her, she'll stop, do really well for a little, and then might move on to something else. Rarely does she continue the behavior I asked her to stop.

I think gymnastics is good for her.

The same problem extends to her other sport, volleyball.

She's a great server but almost always will miss her first serve of the game. Hard to get her to settle down and focus. After that one, she's good.

 

[auswi]

ADHD is a continuum, so kids can still have symptoms but not of a level that needs medicated.
Impulsivity is a huge aspect of ADHD, and this can kick in, in a nanosecond!
Less opportunities for dalliance ( as posted above- more stations/ exercises with less time on them) will help.
Also get her on board, and have her understand what is acceptable, and what is not behaviourally in a gym. (Clear boundaries.)
This however needs to be done in a very positive way as kids on any spectrum are often getting the message that they aren't "good enough," as all day/every day they recieve the message that they/ their behaviour doesn't measure up, so make sure she has times when she is praised for her best efforts.
Kids with these characteristics are fantastic because if something extra needs done their energy levels and impulsivity means they are often the first to do it.
Good luck

 

[Mrs. Puma]

Sounds like my 9 year old...she does competative dance, and when she is "on" she is such and beautiful dancer. But recently it seems more often than not, she's in "LaLa land". It breaks my heart. Especially because my 7 year old gymmie is that ridiculously motivated kid. I was in tears this summer, but now I am reframing it. They are different kids and in the big picture, all I want is for them to be happy. But don't get me wrong, I still have days when I worry she'll live in "the van down by the river" (remember the Chris Farley SNL skit?!). So, no you're not alone

Maybe this isn't the place to post about my dance daughter, but in the spirit of helping you feel better about your DD who sounds similar, we had a great Christmas performance last night! As I said, she's really struggled this year- didn't make an elite team after Intensive, says the other girls sometimes don't want to be her partner...again, breaks my heart. BUT she looked so beautiful and smooth and HAPPY! She felt good about herself and had fun and isn't that what we all want for our kids?! Hope things are going well for you, Seven!

Sounds like my 9 year old...she does competative dance, and when she is "on" she is such and beautiful dancer. But recently it seems more often than not, she's in "LaLa land". It breaks my heart. Especially because my 7 year old gymmie is that ridiculously motivated kid. I was in tears this summer, but now I am reframing it. They are different kids and in the big picture, all I want is for them to be happy. But don't get me wrong, I still have days when I worry she'll live in "the van down by the river" (remember the Chris Farley SNL skit?!). So, no you're not alone

 

[momof2gymmies]

I have 2 girls - and 8 year old and a 10 year old on team. My 10 year old is a driven perfectionist who will skip parties to go to gym. Right now she is doing pull ups before we leave for practice.

My 8 year old, well, she is her own unique individual. I have had meeting after meeting with the coaches, about her lack of effort. She tells me she wants to me on team, and ill work hard for a week or so, but then gets goofy again.

I have no advice, just wanted to say shes not the only one out there.

 

[sevenatenine2]

Maybe this isn't the place to post about my dance daughter, but in the spirit of helping you feel better about your DD who sounds similar, we had a great Christmas performance last night! As I said, she's really struggled this year- didn't make an elite team after Intensive, says the other girls sometimes don't want to be her partner...again, breaks my heart. BUT she looked so beautiful and smooth and HAPPY! She felt good about herself and had fun and isn't that what we all want for our kids?! Hope things are going well for you, Seven!

I appreciate that, and glad to hear she had a great performance!
Little Puma's meet is today, right? Been thinking about her. Hope she rocks it!

 

[Mrs. Puma]

Tomorrow morning!

 

[wallinbl]

I have 2 kids with ADHD and they are medicated. But I have talked to a lot of people whose kids are mildly ADHD and are not on meds. Many have found success in caffeine helping the child to focus, so maybe a glass of tea before practice or something?

We changed the diets of our kids quite significantly - no food dyes, no preservatives, etc. Many of these things are actually banned (or have labeling requirements) in Europe because of their link to ADD. There are some studies that have suggested ADD is an allergic reaction to food dyes. I was skeptical when my wife started doing it, but the change in the girls was huge, and several of their teachers now do it with their own kids because of the change they saw in our kids.

It's a nuisance at first to figure out what to buy at the store, but after that, it's no burden.