Parents Question from Mom to Moms

[gothgymmom]

I just have to know. Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one in the gym that feels this way because I do not see any emotion in any of the other moms. But when another child in the gym, (doesnt have to be your child), cries because she cannot perfect a move, or gets hurt...does any other Mom or Dad sit at the edges of their seat and start tearing up, wanting to go comfort that child? I hate seeing the girls cry at my gym. the "mom" in me kicks in and I just want to nurture them lol..I dont because I know they have to work through the obstacle, but it still hurts to watch them cry like that. Even the older girls I feel that way, not just the younger ones.

 

[MaryA]

Oh, sure. It can be heart -wrenching. My DD is not really a crier, but when I have seen it, I either want to go in there and hug her or possibly give her coach a piece of my mind. But generally I have no real idea of what is actually going on, so it's best to let the coaches deal with it. Be a crying shoulder or a listening ear, if she needs it, once she gets out of the gym, but leave the gym stuff to the coaches.

 

[htimcj]

It is hard to watch but I have found that in our gym at least her team mates are the first to provide comfort or tell them they can do it if it is tears of frustration.

 

[Becauseisaid]

One day a group of us Moms were saying that we felt like one girl on team needed to be given candy...ice cream...a pony when she started crying because she was working so hard since it was so unusual. LOL!

Luckily we have a great group of Moms and the girls don't hesitate to come to another Mom if they can't find their own. And all of us are quick to make sure everything is okay if one of the girls looks distressed for any reason. But I get the feeling that we're a bit unusual with how well us parents get along.

 

[GYM0M]

We've been ingrained that our girls must work through the tears.......still stinks though!

 

[Jen H.]

I wear my heart on my sleeve, so yes.

 

[Committed]

Not even a little. My DD is an extremely emotional person, so I take tears with a grain of salt.

 

[gwenmom]

Oh yes. DD does cry very often , but there is a girl that seems to cry a lot and I always want to hug her. But I tow the stone faced line and tell her she can do it. Breaks my heart.

 

[MerriWeather]

I haven't seen any of the girls crying yet, but I get all teary-eyed when they do really well at something!

 

[profmom]

After your child has been in the same group with a handful of other children for three or four years, you bleed when they bleed. Both my daughter and son are training and competing this year with some kids they've been with since preteam. It feels almost as good to see them succeed as it does to see your own son or daughter succeed, and it hurts almost as much when things go wrong. The one good thing is that, not being the parent, sometimes the teammate's mom or dad has enough perspective to put in the right kind word at the right time, and it means something different because it's not just mom or dad saying it.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

We've been ingrained that our girls must work through the tears.......still stinks though!

so must our boys. it's gymnastics. not chess.

oops...sorry...i'm just a dad...

 

[gothgymmom]

since my dd was at out gym, i have been there and witnessed 2 serious injuries. both happened on beam. one girl fractured her clavicle, and the other girl sprained her ankle pretty bad. i saw the tears, i teared with them. i know parents arent allowed to rush out there if there is an injury, even at practice ( i know thats a big no-no at meets lol), but i see the moms just standing there with no emotion in their faces or sometimes the parent isnt even there. i know parents are supposed to try to stay strong in front of their children, but i feel that you can be strong and also let your children know you have feelings, and you hurt right along with them. same goes for if the child cant get a certain trick down and they cry, or if the coach yells at something they did and they cry, it hurts me to see them like that.