Parents Ugh, bratty little child..

[Pineapple_Lump]

Is there a culture of signing up for gymnastics/sport so you can go to the Olympics in the states? or are these just a minority? Here most kids sign up for fun/enjoyment/be with a friend/improve physical ability etc...

 

[Kiwi]

Glad to hear the child is behaving better. Hope your DD is loving her class.

 

[GymMom22107]

I think some people probably do sign their kids up after the excitement of the Olympics. And I think a lot of times parents really just want their child to be the absolute best, which isn't all that crazy, I mean we all love our children and want to see them succeed but they can succeed without going to the Olympics! I signed my daughter up because she loves it. I actually wanted to put her in dance because I danced as a child and but after a combo dance/gymnastics class she fell in love with the gym! So gymnastics it is.

 

[skschlag]

I signed my son up at 2 because he climbed on top of the refrigerator. It was just a way to teach him to be safe. NEVER intended to be raising a gymnast. LOL! That was the last thing on my mind. IT was a just a fun easy class to take him to, and his preschool did it, then he was invited to pre-team....well, you guys know how the story goes!

 

[bogwoppit]

I signed my son up at 2 because he climbed on top of the refrigerator. It was just a way to teach him to be safe. NEVER intended to be raising a gymnast. LOL! That was the last thing on my mind. IT was a just a fun easy class to take him to, and his preschool did it, then he was invited to pre-team....well, you guys know how the story goes!

That is exactly why I signed up my older dd for gym. That and her escaping from car seats, play group, moms and tots. I figured she had a career as an escapologis lined up. But to look at her now you would never know.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

Is there a culture of signing up for gymnastics/sport so you can go to the Olympics in the states? or are these just a minority? Here most kids sign up for fun/enjoyment/be with a friend/improve physical ability etc...

they're just a small minority. but you get them every year in every gym here. and most sign up for all the reasons you stated above.

 

[Muddlethru]

here's another twist andrewsjr, if i had a dollar for every time a parent said their kid wanted to go to the Olympics or my kid said they wanted to go to the Olympics and then quit within 1 year later, i estimate i would be a millionaire twice over in just my first 5 years in business. lol.

There's a thought dunno. Why don't you . . . Collect a dollar or put aside a dollar. That seems like a better investment than the stock market.

 

[Pineapple_Lump]

^^^^^ You could collect the dollars from all the parents, if their child succeeds in making the Olympics you will pay for them to go and watch their little star compete on the world stage.

 

[mommyof1]

My daughter wanted to sign up for gymnastics because it looked fun. But don't most kids under the age of 7 or so think they are going to the Olympics or go pro in whatever sport or activity they pursue? They don't figure out the math until they are older. When we were watching the Olympic trials on TV, my daughter (then aged 5 1/2) seemed to assume that every 16-year-old gymnast in the country was at the meet.

 

[GymMom22107]

My daughter wanted to sign up for gymnastics because it looked fun. But don't most kids under the age of 7 or so think they are going to the Olympics or go pro in whatever sport or activity they pursue? They don't figure out the math until they are older. When we were watching the Olympic trials on TV, my daughter (then aged 5 1/2) seemed to assume that every 16-year-old gymnast in the country was at the meet.

Lol, yeah that is how my daughter is. She doesn't quite understand the Olympics yet. She was like, why can't we go see it? When am I going to be in the Olympics? She seemed to think EVERY gymnast goes to the Olympics. She'll get it when she is older, it's kind of hard for young kids to understand I think.

 

[Moxiegrl83]

I don't think a lot of people outside gym really get what a minuscule chance the Olympics are for gymnasts, or any sport for that matter. I hear it from her grandparents, friends that know she does gym, and I know my sister hear's it about my niece who's a L5. I think they assume because gymnasts train so many hours, from such a young age, they automatically think they are headed for the National Team/Olympics. And parents at the gym seem to think so too, at least until they've been in the sport for awhile.

I felt so bad for one little girl who came in with her grandma. She'd never done gym, the grandma stood there and told me how awful she was, couldn't do anything, needed private lessons, because she was never going to make it to the Olympics at her current rate. Did I mention the girl was 4 or 5? When the grandma walked away, the coach in the office and I just looked at each other like "What the heck just happened?"....

 

[profmom]

Often when I post a vid on Facebook of my DD doing a routine at a meet, someone says something about the Olympics. I agree with Moxiegrl; people just don't realize what's involved in reaching optionals, much less going to the Olympics!

(This would include DS, the brand spanking new L5, who intends to compete in the 2024 Olympics, medal in the all around, and bring home the individual gold medal on pommel horse. He will then go to graduate school and be a field biologist for a while, and when he's tired of that, he's going to open his own gym.)

Moxie, that grandma . . . yeesh!

 

[onebusymama]

I live in a big "gymnastics" state. And after the olympics EVERY kid signed up for gymnastics. The gyms in our area were flooded with preschoolers. It will die down I asume after the beginning of the yr. when their kid takes up tennis or hocky or dance. Then their child will be the future star in the Nutcracker or the a pro hockey player, ect. Oh the dreamers..... But hey, there isn't anything wrong with that!

 

[DisMom]

This is part what online forums are for. VENTING. As the OP said, she didn't say this out loud, she didn't say it to anyone involved at the gym, etc. Online forums are SAFE and ANONYMOUS places for venting about bratty kids and being able to get it off your chest so that you can be an appropriate adult when back in the gym with said brat.

And I don't have a problem with the word brat. Some kids are bratty. I don't usually blame a 4 year old, though. If a young child is CONSISTENTLY (key word) mean or bratty, that is usually due to the parenting. But let's face it...bad behavior exists. Call it what it is.

I'm going to say this again....I did NOT at anytime ANNOUNCE that this child was "rotten" or a "brat" out loud EVER! Not to any other moms, not to the couch, not to my child, not to any other child. I simply wrote it on here because I was heated at the gym watching this child roll around on the floor bumping into people, sticking her hands in other people faces, getting in the other girls way, throwing a fit when she didn't get her way and THOUGHT I could vent here! Thanks for pointing it out I can't! Perhaps I DO need to find another mom to vent to instead of coming on here! We ALL get frustrated at times and when your mad/frustrated the words don't always come out nicely. I don't know why this child does what she does but yes it is annoying and yes I was very irritated by it. And just to let everyone know, I did end up talking to the coach, their coach is not the mother but the mother does work there and they are very aware of the situation and are taking care of it, which is great, they need to because she IS a problem and it's not fair to the other girls to have to put up with it, and i'm sure you all would feel frustrated too if it were your child.