Parents Unconventional Mom Brag :-)

[tpMom]

This evening I made it to the gym to pick up my daughter a few minutes early and I caught the tail end of her practice. She was up on a beam, working on her bwobhs connection and I could see from the hallway that she was pretty scared of it. Her little arms and legs were shaking and she was taking lots of deep breaths without actually doing a whole lot of moving up there.

And I just have to say that seeing her up there, working so hard on a skill that she finds difficult and scary, made me so proud. While I was watching she went for it twice, but couldn't quite make herself throw the bhs after the walkover. In her mind, it was a disappointing end to her practice. To me, it was an example of how hard she (and all the gymnasts out there) have to work at this sport, and it was a testament to how strong she is that she kept trying, even though you could see that the biggest part of her really just wanted to get off of the beam.

Maybe even more importantly, when she was done with practice she mentioned that beam was "not her best tonight" but then went on to tell me about all the parts of practice that had gone well. I'm 35 and I don't have that kind of mental toughness. It blows my mind to see my 9 year old learning and growing and giving everything she has to achieve her goals.

I know that I'm just flat-out bragging here, but I couldn't help it. Nobody except gym parents are going to understand how I can be so proud even though she actually didn't manage to even get close to the skill she was working on !

 

[Flyaway]

I love this. I have a video of my dd at camp last year, attempting to do a bhs on beam for the first time. It was a low beam with stacked mats and a coach was right there to spot her, but even so the mental battle she went through before going for it is clearly evident on the video. However, she did it. It wasn't pretty and her hands didn't land on the beam (landed on the mats on either side) but that totally doesn't matter and wasn't the point. The point was she faced something scary and went for it. I am more proud of the mental strength and toughness demonstrated on that video than any other video I have of her doing gymnastics. You are completely allowed to brag. These moments make gymnastics worth it.

 

[CuriousCate]

I love this. My DD is here right now too....after a 3+ month mental block that made her consider quitting, she got her BWO on the high beam and is now working on her BHS. Seeing her stand there and shake out her sweaty little hands and take 700 deep breaths but never actually give up was an amazing process to witness. What resolve these little ones have! These are some of the biggest life lessons learned before age 10!

 

[BachFlyer]

Love this! I'm proud of your dd, too, and all the rest of our tough, strong, determined gymmies! My favorite part about being a gym mom is knowing my kid's mental toughness can run circles around mine. It's certainly humbling, and inspirational!

 

[tpMom]

Update- I think my daughter's coach is a crazy genius.

Right after I made this post, DD was injured at school and out of practice for a few weeks. The time out of the gym seemed to allow her fear of this connection on beam to really burrow deep and it went from being scary to impossible. It was to the point that she was having bad dreams about it.

Her dad and I didn't mention it at all, the coach moved it all the way down to the floor, everybody took all the pressure off of the skill...except my kid of course!

So today the coach apparently tried a new strategy. He told her that since she hated this connection on beam so much she could try to work on back tucks on the beam today instead.

Suddenly she had a new fun skill to work on. She's a level 6 so its years away from a competitive routine and nobody had any expectations of her to land it. It was a completely pressure free moment on beam for the first time in months.

Not only did she make the skill several times (on a padded floor beam), she also suddenly discovered the bwobhs connection wasn't so scary, and she landed a few of those too! The kid was absolutely glowing when I picked her up today.

 

[raenndrops]

Update- I think my daughter's coach is a crazy genius.

Right after I made this post, DD was injured at school and out of practice for a few weeks. The time out of the gym seemed to allow her fear of this connection on beam to really burrow deep and it went from being scary to impossible. It was to the point that she was having bad dreams about it.

Her dad and I didn't mention it at all, the coach moved it all the way down to the floor, everybody took all the pressure off of the skill...except my kid of course!

So today the coach apparently tried a new strategy. He told her that since she hated this connection on beam so much she could try to work on back tucks on the beam today instead.

Suddenly she had a new fun skill to work on. She's a level 6 so its years away from a competitive routine and nobody had any expectations of her to land it. It was a completely pressure free moment on beam for the first time in months.

Not only did she make the skill several times (on a padded floor beam), she also suddenly discovered the bwobhs connection wasn't so scary, and she landed a few of those too! The kid was absolutely glowing when I picked her up today.

Lol, sounds like something our coach would do.
Glad it is working out for your DD.