Balancing gymnastics with 3 other kids.....

[srsjbs]

This has probably been asked a gazillion times, so sorry in advance for that. How do you handle meet season if you have other children involved in other activities? My husband works a very weird shift work schedule, so while he is off half the month, half the time he isn't, including weekends. This year hasn't been an issue because thankfully my older two children were still young enough that their games happened on weeknights. And when something did conflict, DH was able to take work off to stay home with the other kids. But next year DS will be in middle school and football, basketball, etc. and will have games on Saturdays. I'm already stressing! I in no way want my other children to miss out on their stuff because their sister is a competitive gymnast. On the other hand I commit a LOT of money to gymnastics and there is no way I want her to be missing meets, plus if you are on the competitive team we are required to attend a minimum amount of meets the team is going to unless of injury/illness/etc. DH is already fully aware and willing to use all the vacation hours he needs to and hopefully that will be enough, but if its not.......

How do you all handle it?

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[GymBeeMom]

This has probably been asked a gazillion times, so sorry in advance for that. How do you handle meet season if you have other children involved in other activities? My husband works a very weird shift work schedule, so while he is off half the month, half the time he isn't, including weekends. This year hasn't been an issue because thankfully my older two children were still young enough that their games happened on weeknights. And when something did conflict, DH was able to take work off to stay home with the other kids. But next year DS will be in middle school and football, basketball, etc. and will have games on Saturdays. I'm already stressing! I in no way want my other children to miss out on their stuff because their sister is a competitive gymnast. On the other hand I commit a LOT of money to gymnastics and there is no way I want her to be missing meets, plus if you are on the competitive team we are required to attend a minimum amount of meets the team is going to unless of injury/illness/etc. DH is already fully aware and willing to use all the vacation hours he needs to and hopefully that will be enough, but if its not.......

How do you all handle it?

It stinks to have to miss meets but my DD has had to go to meets without us on occasion. For out of town meets, she does team travel if we cannot attend. If it is a local meet, she could go with a teammate. Obviously we wish we could go to every meet, and she is only 8 so I want to be at everything, but realistically, we can't be everywhere at once. Sending your DD with a teammate or one of your other kids to their sport with a teammate may be a viable option. Good luck, I only have 2 kids and the balance is a challenge sometimes.

[cbifoja]

Would it be possible, if necessary, for your daughter to attend the meets with another family? It would mean that you would miss the meet but at least she could go and compete. Not sure if you'd feel comfortable doing that, but it would be a possibility on some occasions.

[cbifoja]

LOL... yeah, what GymBeeMom said.

Bella is an only and I seriously don't know how parents with multiples do it. We have a mom with three girls either on team or developmental track. We have another mom with two girls on different teams. Those poor women run themselves ragged!!!! So much respect for their energy level and commitment to their children.

[lhmom]

We have 2 kids and there are times that I've gone to the meet and my husband takes our son. A few times when he's had to work on the weekend, our son stays with his grandparents. So far, it's worked out ok. We've tried to make sure that our son has one of us there for his activities but I feel fortunate that he's not wanted to do a traveling team sport as well. If it were me, I'd be locating others in my group who are in the same situation and take turns helping each other with transportation as needed. Good luck!

[srsjbs]

Would it be possible, if necessary, for your daughter to attend the meets with another family? It would mean that you would miss the meet but at least she could go and compete. Not sure if you'd feel comfortable doing that, but it would be a possibility on some occasions.

Yes, I suppose that would be possible. She is only going to be 7 next year, but out of all 4 of my kids she would totally be the one willing to travel with someone else. I just worry, ya know? What if she gets hurt, or if the roads are bad, or if she needs me lol. Most of our meets are at least 4 hours away and require an overnight stay, which doesn't help matters. I am most definitely a worry wart! Maybe with almost a year to prepare myself for it, I will be ready to allow that

[krisnkids]

Funny question for me. I'm a single mom with 4 kids and their dad lives 7 hours away. So for me its me, me and me doing the driving and getting to the meets. First because its only me, the kids can only do one sport at a time. I wish I could let them do more but its just not feasible. So far I have had other parents in my son's other sports step up and help. Soon my oldest will be driving so that should help a bit. But for now its stressful.

[GymBee97]

That is one of the drawbacks to team gymnastics. When my son was on team my daughter could come with us or go to grandma's or do a sleepover at a friends house. When both were on team my husband went with my son and I went with my daughter when they had conflicting meet schedules (mostly because hubby couldn't do hair). There were times the coach took my son to meets or other families took him. Carpooling is a must for this sport especially if you have other kids. You are only one person and can only be in one place at a time. Sometimes too kids have to understand this. It doesn't mean you love one kid more than the other but you are doing what you have to do. Continue to try to alternate with your hubby to cover the games and meets. And anything you can't change your schedule for usually its easier to get the carpooling in place for the school teams.

Also keep in mind middle school is a big jump and you never know what your kids will stick with when they enter. even if you really want them to be on a team they may not make the cut at tryouts. I know alot of good athletes that parents thought thier kids would make the school teams and then didn't. Also many gymnasts end up not wanting to do team eventhough they seem to be great at it and interested now - a year from now things could change.

A year is along way off and things may change alot between now and then.

[gymgal]

we have 3 kids in different year round travel sports and it its a major pain but we make it work. DH and I split the futures most weekends. Rarely, we get to go to the same event. Dh always has the older ds because he coaches the team. So I usually get the other two, unless dh its off that weekend (which is rare because he also works weekends) The two older kids' sports take priority at this point but we try to make all 3 work as much as possible. This season, dd and youngest ds have several conflicting weekends. Thankfully ds (a swimmer) has 2 day meets so usually we can work it so he is able to go at least one day. Not ideal because he is missing out on events he really needs to compete for times but its the best we can do. He has some behavioral issues so we don't feel comfortable having him go without us. And with the potential injuries in gymnastics, I would never feel comfortable having dd go with someone else. (maybe a local meet but all of ours are 2+ hours away).

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[my4buffaloes]

I have 4 kids. We decided a long time ago that we would not make our other kids miss their own sports stuff for dd's gymnastics meets. So we don't all go. Dh and I trade off. And the other kids sometimes have get rides with people. Dh and I also rarely get to both go to the other kids things. Regardless of what the kids do, having 4 of them in sports and other activities means we just can't be at everything and they have had to get used to it. Carpools are great - especially to practices so that hopefully one of you will be at games.