What do you do before a meet?

[flippysmom]

My daughter has a meet tomorrow at 7pm, and this is her first meet that hasn't been in the beginning of the day. I am planning on keeping the morning very low key, a filling breakfast and a movie other couch. In the afternoon we are going to meet another gym family for a light dinner before the meet.

I am wondering what advice anyone might have on what to do/not do before a later meet. I am specifically wondering how much to let her eat before the meet. At her last meet we were surprised when she fell back on her shoot through on the bars, turns out that she passed gas when she cast out of the front hip circle and it shocked her (the video is priceless now that we know what the look on her face was about.) I am now trying to decide what to feed her tomorrow that would prevent the gas problem without being to heavy.

Thank you for any advice or experience that you can share!

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[jsfofec]

The main thing is just make the day as normal as any other day. Once you start trying to make the day too special, the pressure of knowing a competition is coming and clock watching can just stress your DD out. I look at this way, I'm sure your DD eats normally everyday before she goes to practice, so why change anything. Just treat the day like she's going to practice later in the day. Don't worry too much about what gives her or does not give her gas...if that happens, it just happens

DD likes to eat pasta the night before meet day, but if she doesn't, it's no big deal. Usually the day of a meet she likes waffles in the morning if she has an afternoon or evening session. If she has a morning session, she usually eats cereal and then gets a hot chocolate on the way to the meet. For afternoon or evening sessions, she usually eats about 2 hours before warm up and it's usually just regular stuff she eats everyday

 

[flippysmom]

Thanks jsfofec. I am hoping to keep it a low key day, but she is so excited about this meet that I am worried that she will run through her routines all day (a valid concern because this is what she does when she is not at the gym.) I am hoping that dinner with her friend will distract her. If I can only get her to cut back on the fruits and vegetables for the day maybe the gas wouldn't be such a problem. I am lucky to have a very healthy eater, but I am nervous about letting her eat salmon and asparagus before a meet, I worry that when the nerves hit it could be a dangerous combo.

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[jsfofec]

Eating asparagus and salmon is better than eating a pizza and a candy bar! How old is your DD and what level is she competing? I"m asking because as she gets more experience and learns to adjust to different start times, she'll come up with her own routine and will know exactly what she wants to do and eat before competitions.

 

[flippysmom]

She is eight and a level 4.

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[Deleted member D3987]

oh gosh...nothing affects 8 years olds. LOL

 

[jsfofec]

She'll be fine with whatever you decide to give her. She'll go out and have a great meet and a lot of fun. Isn't there a rule that after an evening session, that you have to take the kids out for dessert or something?

 

[SuperGirlmlm]

Just treat it like a normal day, don't put more stress on her than there has to be.

 

[flippysmom]

Thanks for all the feedback. We are going to go see a friend's new kittens in the morning then go to dinner with friends.

Dunno, your comment made me chuckle, I have had several conversations with other Moms about how the girls can handle anything while they are doing gymnastics, but a hangnail at home requires immediate medical attention and bed rest!

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[wallinbl]

Thanks for all the feedback. We are going to go see a friend's new kittens in the morning then go to dinner with friends.

That's probably about right - enough to distract from the anticipation and to be a normal day.

Dunno - they're not going to wear out, but an anxious 8 year old can be a real bear to listen to all day until a 7 PM session! It's best to distract them.

 

[shelovestoflip]

My daughter hates late session meets unless they are on a school day (distraction!) She is like a baseball player with her
superstitions or whatever!

So, I let her do what she wants to do so she is happy.

That being said she is 12 so easier in some respects than 8. But I think I'd just let her do whatever worked as an 8 year old too...not making a big deal of the meet until it's time to get ready!

As for what to eat, my daughter has never had any problems....is a very healthy eater but loves her gummy stuff, occasional chocolate and cookies, too.

Oh well, I don't stress about it...it's all worked for her so far. your daughter will find her way as she gets older and has done more meets at various times.

For what it's worth, my 'perfect' check in is the 2nd session....don't need to wake her up earlier than normal and we still have some of the day on the other end. Alas, the scheduling gods have rarely been on my side this year....we've had two 7pm check ins, two 7am check ins and two late afternoon. Oh well....