MAG Time

[alongfortheride]

I had no idea the time spent on gymnastics before DS started. I mean I spend 1 hour (1/2 hour each way) driving to and from the gym 4 days a week right now, not to mention the hours he spends practicing. I would have never realized, being that I didn't actually do sports myself as a child (we were too poor). I'm glad that we are in a position for DS to do gymnastics, but I honestly had no idea of the time commitment before starting. This is not a complaint, just an observation.

And next year he will be in 12 hours a week of practice, at age 7. That seems like a lot. Here is something I do worry about-- do your kids have time to be kids? My son is already gets on the bus at 6:45, and gets off the bus at 4:00 for his school every day (Please don't suggest homeschooling, it is NOT an option). He does love gymnastics, and does it often on his home mushroom and mat, so apparently HE doesn't worry about the time factor. LOL.

 

[skschlag]

My answer to you would be yes. D gets to be a kid. It is different from other kids. His friends are his gym friends. He plays with them, has sleepovers with them, travels with them. He does not have as much time outside with neighbors, or video game time with classmates (although he does fit that in).

As long is he is happy and loving it, I wouldn't worry too much. Summer will be here before long and he will have more down time.

D currently leaves the house at 7am, goes to school form 7:45-3:45, goes to workout for 4-6:45ish, gets home around 7/7:15. Shower, eat dinner, homework, and bed. But, if I suggest taking a day off (usually for me, not for him), he refuses. So obviously, the needs are beign met

Welcome to the wonderful world of gymnastics!

 

[magmom]

Pretty much ditto what skschlag said. My son leaves the house at 6:30 every weekday morning and gets home around 7pm or so. This is his version of being a kid. If I ask him if he wants a day off, he always says no. I had to force him to stay home when he was sick a few weeks ago.

We do try to leave the weekends fairly open and unscheduled. He gets lots of playtime and downtime in then.

 

[munchkin3]

Same here....he is a kid, but different. He does not play video games as much as his friends, and does not hang out with school friends outside of school. He does not mind in the least, and would rather be with his gym family anyway.

I make sure that in the summers he has time to sleep late, do some other activities and we try to keep weekends to the family.

 

[profmom]

It may sound funny, but the key for us with two team gymnasts in the house is to schedule downtime. I try to make sure everyone has one night a week when s/he isn't in the gym where there's no pressure -- no nagging about getting ahead on homework, no cat litterboxes, no let's go out and do some quick shopping, nothing. Sometimes they play minecraft or play with their IPods, but sometimes when we're all in the house, we play a family game. Their choice. I'm always really happy when they pick that.

 

[gracyomalley]

Well, we do homeschool (not because of gym) and its still a challenge as they move along for them to have down time - it is still work, you know - and they end up with more responsibilities at home when they are there, you can imagine....

We limit electronics to one-2 times a week so they get outside (other than to take care of the farm animals which they no longer consider fun now that they are old enough to actually do a good job, unfortunately...)

Gym HAS to be something they enjoy and would rather do than play with neighborhood friends, or its not worth it...my kids best friends are their gym and music friends....people they got to know doing things they love -not just "the kid close to their age down the street or in their class"....I think that helps!

 

[gymmomx2]

We homeschool and I'll be the first to admit that my kids are very scheduled between gym (18 hours for DS and 12 hours for DD), piano, swimming, skating, etc.

My DS in particular, finds that he doesn't get enough downtime. Part of the solution is making him realize what downtime looks like because for example he doesn't consider playdates to be downtime

We always give him the option of quitting gym but so far he hasn't wanted to

 

[Deleted member 10727]

We also Homeschool, and it's been a challenge to fit in enough time for schoolwork. They have practice during the day (3 gymnasts, so alternating days, 5 days per week), and then my 8 year old has evening practice 2 days per week. 16 hours per week for him. I've decided that he is going to need time off from gym every 3 weeks or so. Perhaps we'll just enforce an evening off so it will give him one full day off gym. The last thing we want is to burn him out. He says he is fine, but I notice how much he has started complaining about other things like schooling and chores, which he had never really done before.

 

[alongfortheride]

I hope it didn't seem that I am anti-homeschooling. I'm for whatever education works for you. I just know it wouldn't work for me and my DS--our personalities wouldn't mesh for that type of learning. It would just make school stressful. He does better in a classroom w/ teachers. I know I want him to have as "normal" a life as possible while still doing gymnastics. I am already making an effort to try to make things as balanced as possible. On the other hand, i felt a little bad about pulling him out of gymnastics a week for regular camp and a week for family vacation this summer. . .but I suppose most kids miss a bit of gym time in the summer.

 

[gymgal]

Depending on your schedule, you may want to consider taking him to/from school instead of the bus. That usually adds up to at least an hr extra a day. Extra time in the morning to sleep and in the afternoon for homework.

Like others have said, its a matter of thinking about downtime differently. and heck, I am thrilled they don't have as much downtime. Have you seen what the average child does in their downtime? Certainly not what we did 30 yrs ago.. If you child is complaining, then I would look into it more but if he/she is happy, I wouldn't worry much about it.

 

[alongfortheride]

Thanks! I have a toddler, who already spends a good amount of time in the car driving to and from the gym, so that's why they take the bus. Otherwise that would be a good plan. Also, he has managed to do a good job just lately at doing homework on the bus w/ his older brother, which helps.

My daughter who is the toddler already says she wants to do "nastics". . .like her brother.

I do agree, the downtime can easily be "wasted" in video game time, etc (which we limit anyway). . .And he hasn't complained. So probably it's more me that gets worried.

 

[Deleted member 10727]

I, personally, didn't feel you were saying anything negative about homeschooling. I understand how daunting it can be, and that it doesn't work for every family.

 

[profmom]

Oh goodness, there is no need to worry about two separated weeks out of gym in the summer yet! Plenty of time for that when he's training L9. My main problem when my two are out of the gym is figuring out how to channel the restless energy.