WAG Skipping Practice

[my4buffaloes]

Skipping practice will only hurt those girls in the long run. And your child being there will only help her in the long run. It has to be something very, very special for me to let my kids skip - or they have to be sick.

 

[SeaActually]

Honestly, I couldn't care less if other people skip practice. There have been occasions when my DD is the only person who shows up. Her dedication will benefit only her, and what goes on with the other girls is between the girls, their parents, and the coach. The fewer girls there, the more attention my DD gets anyway.

I would allow my DD to miss much more than she would allow me to allow her to miss. I recognize when an event is really important to her when she requests to miss gym for it.

I couldn't care less if others miss. More bang for the buck.

I agree with this as well as all the similar replies. I don't really care who skips either (and I only notice because her friends are in our carpool). She notices when they are not there, and recently has been asking to stay home, particularly on Saturday mornings. Once she's there, she's happy as a clam. I also wonder if this is due to getting older and having older friends. She is 9 most of her buddies are 10 and 11.

 

[cbifoja]

I let DD "skip" practice if she is sick or if she hasn't fully recovered from being sick. She was sick over xmas break and could have gone back on the Friday after, but she was still pretty "snotty" so I kept her home so she would be off for a full week.

I also force her to "skip" if she is showing signs of fatigue. She will never admit to being tired or run down but once I see those dark circles under her eyes or her body slumps when it's time to go to gym, I know that she needs a couch day.

She also "skips" if her father wants to do something special on the weekend over the summer. He's a big amusement park enthusiast and asks her to go somewhere a couple times a summer. She misses for vacation too since we don't always schedule ours during the summer off week.

It just isn't an issue for us because she has good attendance. She used to be that kid that was there every time the door opened but now I'm happier because she has more balance. She is still there for 95% of the practices and she is also getting to do family fun stuff and staying healthy.

We have a couple of kids who have poor attendance but if it's okay with their parents, it certainly isn't any of my business. I think that if my child was missing as much as some of these kids, I would be hesitant to drop the money that competitive gymnastics involves, but I'm happy with the bang DD is getting for my buck.

 

[wnl256]

There are rare occasions when DD simply does not want to go. We don't force it. She is old enough to decide for herself what is important to her. If it became a regular thing then we would have a discussion. She missed Friday evening practice once for a school dance. I was okay with that. One time not too long ago she came home from school complaining of a headache. I looked at her and could tell she was exhausted. I let her stay home. Turned out to be the right thing to do as she spent the next two hours sound asleep.

School still takes priority and she must maintain her grades! When she gets behind on her school work we keep her home to catch up. And she skipped practice the night before her math final so that she could study (we warned the coaches ahead of time about that).

 

[proud-gym-mom]

DD will miss if she's sick, we're on a family vacation or if she has an Irish Dance competition. Sometimes we'll do an hour private those weeks and while it's not the same type of a practice she gets a lot out of privates so it's a good blend. Some of the other girls miss for school work (we do 4 hrs M,W,F,Sat) so with 16 hrs of practice a week (L5) missing a practice here and there isn't a big deal. Some of the other girls miss more than her but it never bothers me, just means DD get's more of coach's time

 

[lovemygymnast]

I will not send my kids to practice when they are sick, the rule in our family has always been " too sick for school = too sick for after school activities" , it really annoys me when one kid turns up ill and a week later the whole gym is ill.
I've always said school commitments come before gym - so they do miss practice on occasions for school functions, student/teacher meetings etc.
They will occasionally skip a practice for a friend or family birthday - maybe twice a year. A lot of their best friends are in the gym now
Coaches are fine with them missing for all of these reasons. Some kids miss more sessions, some kids less. I guess each family just has to figure out what works for them.

I am the exact same way! If she misses school, no gym. But I know several parents who think nothing of sending them to school or gym sick. Sure does bug me especially since it sets everyone up for getting it.

 

[l.c.o]

For DD, it depends - she misses when she needs to miss. If she's sick, she usually misses. That said, she has seasonal allergies - so sometimes that's a judgement thing - if she missed every day she was congested some, then she'd miss months per year.

If she has a more required school thing (concert, art show she's displaying in), she'll miss practice. School dances she usually skips (no real interest). Large family event/close close family friends' bday party? We use our judgement, depending on where she is in the season. Cheer practice? Gym comes first. Cheer competition? That gets priority over a practice (and there are only three per year - it's a low-hour rec thing).

Sometimes DD is simply getting burned out and needs a night off. She's getting better at recognizing this as she gets older, and she'll flat out insist she needs a night off practice soon, and we usually let her. Those nights we eat as a family and snuggle on the couch/play board games/etc. That said, she's a 10 year old level 4/5/training 7/whotheheckreallyknows and goes 16 hours per week with four hour practices after school. Sometimes she's just simply wiped. We try to respect that. Sometimes I need a break, too!

 

[Vivianflips]

I rarely skip practice, only when I'm sick or out of town. I don't compete but my gym does a spring show and it's very important to prepare for that!

 

[billise]

At both of the gyms DD has been at attendance will effect how quickly a gymnast progresses. They make it clear that when determining move ups a child's attendance is factored in.

My DD rarely misses practice. We are big on honoring our commitments so we are careful not to over commit. The only thing that takes priority over gym are church related activities. We made sure DD understood that when she committed to team and she is free to stop competing if she ever feels that she is having to give up too much.

 

[billise]

But we also have a rule of only one activity per child in our house. If one of my children wants to try something new then they must step away from the current activity first. I have a gymnast (year round activity), a competitive swimmer (year round activity) and a football player (seasonal activity). My son probably has it easiest as he can try other things during football's off season.

 

[coach.e]

As a coach it is hard when some of the girls don't show up. Especially when you plan things for that one kid that really needs it and they aren't there. Or when the week after you move to the next step and they are lost because they missed class. I would at least like the parents to text or call before.
Not saying that kids should ever miss..kids are kids! But it is a bit of an inconvenience

 

[wnl256]

As a coach it is hard when some of the girls don't show up. Especially when you plan things for that one kid that really needs it and they aren't there. Or when the week after you move to the next step and they are lost because they missed class. I would at least like the parents to text or call before.

Yes, absolutely! That's just common courtesy. I always send a text to one of the coaches when DD won't make it to practice. At the compulsory levels we had no direct line of communication to the coaches. We were supposed to go through the front desk or the team mom, but there was still a way to let someone know our child would not be at practice.

 

[cbifoja]

If we don't call or text, you can be darn sure that HC will be giving you a phone call at the beginning of practice, break, or end of practice to find out what's up. We are expected to give notice/explanations of absences.

 

[JBS]

Our kids that have the best attendance have always been the ones that seem to be around 3 - 5 years later in our optional levels.

 

[sce]

Skipping practice will only hurt those girls in the long run. And your child being there will only help her in the long run. It has to be something very, very special for me to let my kids skip - or they have to be sick.

I feel the same way.

 

[All Chalked Up]

"Skipping" is not in my vocabulary... I've missed three practices in three years because of wisdom teeth removal. I will never be the most naturally talented, but dedication can get you past the naturals....

Of course there are exceptions particularly for younger kids, such as birthday parties! But at age 17, I'll take all the the gymnastics-ing I have left

 

[z2akids]

DD misses practice rarely. Illness, school functions, and sometimes fun activities all trump practice. DD loves to be at the gym, but she is not going to the Olympics and I don't want her to have regrets. She had tons of friends both at the gym and at school. Fortunately, many of her school friends are happy to work parties around her schedule so she can be there. Sleepovers are Saturday nights only since she has early Saturday morning practices.

Our gym does require that the girls attend a certain percentage of practices our they cannot compete.

 

[coachmolly]

I don't give the kids I coach any grief for missing practice for one reason or another. I even encourage it if something really cool comes up for them- vacations, field trips, school events. Most of them miss very rarely, and if they do make me aware in advance they will be gone and the reason for their absence. And if they are sick, I certainly hope they stay home.
There are some kids that miss very frequently for every little activity or event, but that is between her and her parents who are footing the bill. I don't want a kid to resent being in the gym either at practice or down the road. It gives more time to the kids who want to be there. You can usually tell the kids who miss frequently as they have a tendency to fall behind as the skills get harder.

 

[Committed]

Like the other posters have said, I'm fine with other girls missing practice. It keeps the coach to gymnast ratio lower, and it shows that DD is dedicated.

DD is very much into gym right now, and she very rarely asks to miss practice. She had a school dance performance last month, and she requested that she go to gym practice for the first hour before going to her performance. She did not want to take the whole practice off.

We also have the no school= no gym rule. DD will fight me tooth and nail on it, though. I've had to drag her fevered booty out of the car after demanding and crying that I take her to practice!

 

[auswi]

Dd's work ethic is very focused- never ever wants to miss practise- I'm the one who insists that occasionally ( for injuries that need checked by the GP, life events such as graduation) she had to forgo gym LOL