billise
Proud Parent
- Oct 25, 2011
- 370
- 604
My DD started L2-L3 pre-team a little less than a year ago. When she first started she had just turned 5 and was the youngest in her group so I didn't feel comfortable with the "drop and go". Our gym strongly encourages parents to leave once their child starts pre-team but they seem to allow a little latitude for the pre-team parents. Most of our pre-team parents seem to be pretty good about just watching and, as many of the other responders have stated, the viewing area at our gym is behind glass and the pre-teamers practice at the back of the the gym so there isn't much opportunity to yell to your child. All that being said, once school started in August I decided to try the "drop and go" (I have 2 older children that have activities, need help with homework, etc., and I have dinner to cook. Thankfully our gym is only about a mile from our house) and it has worked really well. It has become lots of fun to pick her up and have her tell me about all that she has done (before, she would never report anything to me because she realized I already knew since I was there watching). This past week she told me that she finally got to do her back walkovers (level 2, which my daughter trains doesn't do them), when I questioned her about why they were doing back walkovers when level 2 never does them, she informed me that they had her train with the level 3's. It was fun getting that news from her rather than me sitting there watching. She will be 6 in a couple of weeks and it's been fun watching her really start to "own" her gymnastics. I think that started with me leaving her and giving her that opportunity. Of course you have to know your child and what will work best for them, but it would certainly remedy the whole obnoxious parent thing 
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I sit far away from it most of the time but stop by to say hello as not to be antisocial
