Anon Tell me your crazy gym parent behaviors

[Anonymous (4266)]

Many years ago when our daughters were around 8 years old, one of the mothers was calculating what year olympics her daughter could aim for. This level of delusion was so shocking I was quite literally speechless. I just sat there with a 'deer in the headlights' expression. She never brought it up again.

We’ve heard that math in our gym for 8 year olds. And there is one 8 year old for whom everyone has probably secretly done that math (including me!). She’s truly brilliant to watch. And I say this coming from a gym with plenty of junior and senior elites and current national team members.

Mom told daughter who is a senior to delay graduation a year so that she can go to level 10 and be recruited by a D1 school. Daughter does not have the mobility score for level 9.

Someone at our gym is doing that, but as a junior. Or maybe it’s the same gym and I misunderstood- hopefully there’s only one family in the world who thinks this makes sense.

 

[Anonymous (3d9d)]

Ngl, some of the craziest stuff I've seen is in the comments right here on this site. All of it steming from that most natual of parental instincts, the idea that your child is uniquely special and gifted and destined for great things if only the world (and her rec class coaches) would notice.

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

Ngl, some of the craziest stuff I've seen is in the comments right here on this site. All of it steming from that most natual of parental instincts, the idea that your child is uniquely special and gifted and destined for great things if only the world (and her rec class coaches) would notice.

Every parent thinks their kid is one in a million.

Or, to take the same math and phrase it differently: 99.9999% of parents overestimate how great their kid is.

 

[Anonymous (4266)]

Ngl, some of the craziest stuff I've seen is in the comments right here on this site. All of it steming from that most natual of parental instincts, the idea that your child is uniquely special and gifted and destined for great things if only the world (and her rec class coaches) would notice.

Parent perspective and taking this to a serious place: I have a very average gymnast, and understand where this mentality comes from. There isn’t enough gymnastics to go around.

Gymnastics is so hard to access and if your child falls in love with it, you’ll walk through fire to give them a chance to do it before the clock runs out on them. It’s heartbreaking to find a gym, finally get off a waitlist, get shuffled from class to class when there aren’t enough instructors, scramble to another gym that has a team program, watch your kid work their way through their rec classes and hope they get noticed for pre-team, and then have to watch your kid fight every year for their spot as kids a level below threaten to bump them or new kids join the gym with more talent.

The gap between rec and team at most gyms is vast and parents are very aware of how fragile the competitive careers of average kids can be, so it’s no wonder some of us go crazy trying to find or cling to opportunities for our kids. I don’t know another sport that is so up or out from such a young age, at least in the U.S.. The idea that there are tons of great rec-op or xcel programs or Hs programs out there just waiting to give gymnasts the right opportunity for their abilities is folly.

 

[Anonymous (3279)]

When my son was a L6 or 7, I can't remember exactly, one of the parents ON HIS TEAM, told her son that if he beat my son, she would give him $100. He did beat my son that meet, and got his $100.....and never did another season of gymnastics!

 

[Anonymous (3d9d)]

When my son was a L6 or 7, I can't remember exactly, one of the parents ON HIS TEAM, told her son that if he beat my son, she would give him $100. He did beat my son that meet, and got his $100.....and never did another season of gymnastics!

I witnessed something very similar in my other kid's non-gymnastics sport. Boy's dad told him that if he beat my son (who was a member of the same team) he'd buy him [something expensive]. What made it even worse was that he told me AND MY SON that he'd told his kid this. Publicly putting a target on the back of an eight-year-old teammate in return for cash is a type of parenting I can't really go in for.

 

[Anonymous (3279)]

I witnessed something very similar in my other kid's non-gymnastics sport. Boy's dad told him that if he beat my son (who was a member of the same team) he'd buy him [something expensive]. What made it even worse was that he told me AND MY SON that he'd told his kid this. Publicly putting a target on the back of an eight-year-old teammate in return for cash is a type of parenting I can't really go in for.

oh yeah. SHe announced it to all of the parents before the meet, and paid him out right in front of us!

 

[Anonymous (e3d2)]

One of our level 10 moms sits in the lobby and watches every.single.practice. 25 hours a week. My daughter and all her teammates think it’s super cringy and weird. As do all the other parents. Oh and they live less than 30 min from the gym, and we have 5 hour practices.

Why is it cringy for a parent to want to watch their child do something they love? Some parents have the time and others don't or just don't want to sit there but there is nothing wrong with a parent that does want to sit and watch if they aren't interfering or being a distraction.

 

[Anonymous (f045)]

Why is it cringy for a parent to want to watch their child do something they love? Some parents have the time and others don't or just don't want to sit there but there is nothing wrong with a parent that does want to sit and watch if they aren't interfering or being a distraction.

Because it suggests unhealthy boundaries. It's one thing to watch for a bit at the beginning or end of practice but all 25 hours? For L10s? (which will mostly be teens who have already spent much of their life in the gym).

Also, by the time they hit L9/L10 practices can be emotionally hard at times. My DD and her teammates don't need an audience when things are clearly not going well. The few times I watched I felt like I was invading their space.

 

[Anonymous (6533)]

Because it suggests unhealthy boundaries. It's one thing to watch for a bit at the beginning or end of practice but all 25 hours? For L10s? (which will mostly be teens who have already spent much of their life in the gym).

Also, by the time they hit L9/L10 practices can be emotionally hard at times. My DD and her teammates don't need an audience when things are clearly not going well. The few times I watched I felt like I was invading their space.

Agree with this...sometimes I will watch for the last few minutes if I am picking up, though it's 99% my husband picking up. But the girls don't like parents watching every move at practice. We have one crazy-ish parent on our team of 15 girls (levels 7 and 8) and she will stay the entire practice sometimes and the girls HATE IT. So does her daughter.

 

[Anonymous (d44b)]

One of our level 10 moms sits in the lobby and watches every.single.practice. 25 hours a week. My daughter and all her teammates think it’s super cringy and weird. As do all the other parents. Oh and they live less than 30 min from the gym, and we have 5 hour practices.

At my old gym, they had a rule that parents can't come and watch every single practice from start to finish since it stresses the kids out. That Is crazy that she's still doing that at that level.

 

[Anonymous (3e65)]

Parent perspective and taking this to a serious place: I have a very average gymnast, and understand where this mentality comes from. There isn’t enough gymnastics to go around.

Gymnastics is so hard to access and if your child falls in love with it, you’ll walk through fire to give them a chance to do it before the clock runs out on them. It’s heartbreaking to find a gym, finally get off a waitlist, get shuffled from class to class when there aren’t enough instructors, scramble to another gym that has a team program, watch your kid work their way through their rec classes and hope they get noticed for pre-team, and then have to watch your kid fight every year for their spot as kids a level below threaten to bump them or new kids join the gym with more talent.

The gap between rec and team at most gyms is vast and parents are very aware of how fragile the competitive careers of average kids can be, so it’s no wonder some of us go crazy trying to find or cling to opportunities for our kids. I don’t know another sport that is so up or out from such a young age, at least in the U.S.. The idea that there are tons of great rec-op or xcel programs or Hs programs out there just waiting to give gymnasts the right opportunity for their abilities is folly.

This is so well said. What I had to go through just to get my daughter a chance at team was so frustrating. And obviously not going to the Olympics, but just to advocate for her passion and hard work (much of which was done at home because it wasn’t offered) and find the right place for her to have a chance at and to thrive in an ‘average’ team setting.

 

[Anonymous (7036)]

Why is it cringy for a parent to want to watch their child do something they love? Some parents have the time and others don't or just don't want to sit there but there is nothing wrong with a parent that does want to sit and watch if they aren't interfering or being a distraction.

I agree with you... I realize you were responding to Anon, 5cb4.. I was a gymnast, college as well, and I loved it when my parents watched...LOL... If my grandmother watched that was a real treat! My parents were the last thing from pushy. I had six kids myself. They did soccer, baseball and track and field. My husband lived too far to help with getting them all to their different practices every afternoon, so I did most of it, until some could drive. That being said, I used to go and sit at their track & field practices. I didn't go to watch what the coaches were doing.... I just wanted to be out of the house. I home taught, so I was in my house 24/7... I love the outdoors. I would sit on the bleachers just taking in the sun and fresh air. Not every parent is a so called helicopter parent, or has a nefarious agenda. Some parents just want to chill out for a few hours. Most parents have their child's best interest at heart. Instead of looking at parents (who pay the bills btw) as evil entities to be avoided at all costs, maybe a few gymnastics parents get togethers a year to explain this crazy sport would help. Maybe get them in for a twice a year adult gym class. Any adult having not done gymnastics being placed on a high beam would most like have immediate respect for coaches and kids alike. Make it even more fun, have them wear a leotard...lol!