Parents Training Level 4, 4 nights a week till 8:30 pm

[LuckyMommy]

Hello,

This is my first post so apologies if this has been covered. Our gym just posted the summer hours, which are 12 mandatory hours for girls training L4, with 2 bonus hours. The hours are spread over 4 weekdays, and every night goes until 8:30 pm. Our public school has a different schedule than most others in the area, so my daughter is still in school for half of this summer shedule. During her summer break, she needs to leave the house at 8 a.m. for a full day of summer camp, and she will go directly to gymnastics. She'll have to eat something in the car (I have to hire a driver/nanny for the summer) before 4:30 practice since there is no dinner break. I won't see my child from 8 am till 8:30 pm pick up, and I can't quit my job.

We currently have one night of practice till 8:30, and even rushing through some dinner and a shower, my daughter doesn't turn out the light till 10 pm. She goes to sleep in her school clothes for the next day so that she can get 15 minutes more of sleep. I'm really worried that my daughter is going to get injured. She is in the lower group on team (the team is split in half for practices) and she won't want to miss a minute of practice.

Sorry for this rambling message -- does anyone have advice here? I'm thinking I'll have to pull her out early most nights, which due to their consistent rotation schedule means she will always miss bars practice, her worst event.

Thanks for any advice, I feel trapped between supporting my child's dreams and taking care of her health,
LuckyMommy

 

[gymmiemom]

How old is your DD?

My just turned 7 year old DD, has been training 12+ hours for the last year. I was stressed, but she loves it and hasn't batted an eye. She doesn't get home till 7:30 on school days and has to leave the house at 7:25 a.m. to get to school on time. So four days a week I don't see her until 7:30, because she goes to gym directly after school. She usually gets to bed about 8:45-9:00 at the latest.

I pack her a snack to eat on the bus on the way to gym + a snack to eat for their 10 minute break while she is there. Before you panic, see how your DD handles the schedule Then you can make adjustments from there. Days that she doesn't have gym, she can spend relaxing to rest up.

I do think it's sort of weird to have evening practices during the summer for team...but since your DD has school later than the rest of the gym, that might be best for you.

 

[Gymmom495]

We were on a very similar schedule and are now on an even longer schedule. I'm sure most who read this know by now that my daughter is homeschooled but this is not the norm. I know some of the girls do attend school and do the same hours as my daughter, 24 hrs a week.
I would see how she does with this schedule and ask her how she feels. I would for sure pack her a lunch, maybe something that can be heated up in the microwave at gym so she can eat on the way home.
Also ask around the gym, maybe some of her teammates parents would be willing to carpool so you won't have to get a driver. Not sure what your exact situation is.


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[Deleted member 14190]

We were on a very similar schedule and are now on an even longer schedule. I'm sure most who read this know by now that my daughter is homeschooled but this is not the norm. I know some of the girls do attend school and do the same hours as my daughter, 24 hrs a week.
I would see how she does with this schedule and ask her how she feels. I would for sure pack her a lunch, maybe something that can be heated up in the microwave at gym so she can eat on the way home.
Also ask around the gym, maybe some of her teammates parents would be willing to carpool so you won't have to get a driver. Not sure what your exact situation is.


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=
she should be training 16, so you have it made

 

[Fliptwisttumble]

My daughter started 4 days x 4 hours the week she turned 7.... Three nights ending at 8:30 throughout the school year. I drop her off at before school care at 7:30am so I can get to work. Long days, but we all got used to it, and have dinner at 9pm on those nights. Her school is understanding so homework is given over a week so she can schedule it other nights.

This is very normal for kids L3+ in our area.

 

[lhmom]

Where school is concerned, maybe ask her teacher if your DD may complete any homework during downtime at school so that she can have that out of the way before practice. When DD started going more than 3 days a week, that's one thing we did to help the evening process. I know that some parents of team girls actually bring dinner in the car a few days a week to eat on the way home so that they could get into bed on time. As for camp, could the person driving your daughter maybe pick up a little earlier so that she could have some down time before the transition to practice? Get a chance to rest and rehydrate? Just some thoughts and ideas we've used. This past school year, DD moved to 5 days a week in April but the HC had them practice Tues-Sat which still gave us one free day during the week to get things done. Good luck!

 

[gymgal]

=
she should be training 16, so you have it made

Hmm... Didn't realize there was a national standardized set of hours per level.


OP: as others have said, wait to see how your dd handles it. You may be surprised. I think most parents here have a similar story of the 12+ hour days not seeing their child. Unfortunately, that's one of the tag-a-longs to competitive gymnastics. One of the many reasons why we homeschool (not just for dd. We have 3 in 3 different year round competitive sports). But I know that's not realistic for most families. A couple things that might help with that night time routine: bring dinner for dd to eat in the car on the ride home to save time once she is home. Also, Ask her teacher if she can get her assignments early or hand them in late so she can do them on the weekends (while she is still in school).

It is frustrating as a parent, but your dd likely will just take it in stride. Watch her for a few weeks then decide if you need to start pulling her early some nights.

 

[flgymmom]

My DDs gym practices 5 days a week... during the week until 9pm.... if she has testing or other things going on, I pull her out about 8pm.

During the summer we have 3 weeks of intensive training... the practices are longer and there are no other kids except for the team so it is nice to have that extra time with the coaches.

 

[LizzieLac]

All I can tell you is that we have a very similar situation. Work full-time, babysitter to drive very often, not home from practice until 9 PM, tons of homework, practice for special chorus before school so gets up at 6:15 2x/week after not going to bed until 10 or later.

There are always periods where the kids need to adjust to later hours, more hours, more homework, less sleep, etc, etc. We have had our bumps in he road during those times and you think the whole family is going to implode if things don't get better. Then, miraculously, a new routine is established and everyone adjusts.

My advice is to get have her get extra sleep whenever she can, knock out homework at school if possible, use study hall and bus time if possible. Pack extra snacks and have extra water and snacks in the car. Our weekday meals are quick things and everyone eats at different times as I have a son who is on two baseball teams and also plays soccer. Just look for any shortcut you can, but watch your DD for signs of injury, fatigue, and burnout. Take occasional breaks if needed. An extra rest day can do wonders.

Good luck!!

 

[wallflower]

Hello,

This is my first post so apologies if this has been covered. Our gym just posted the summer hours, which are 12 mandatory hours for girls training L4, with 2 bonus hours. The hours are spread over 4 weekdays, and every night goes until 8:30 pm. Our public school has a different schedule than most others in the area, so my daughter is still in school for half of this summer shedule. During her summer break, she needs to leave the house at 8 a.m. for a full day of summer camp, and she will go directly to gymnastics. She'll have to eat something in the car (I have to hire a driver/nanny for the summer) before 4:30 practice since there is no dinner break. I won't see my child from 8 am till 8:30 pm pick up, and I can't quit my job.

We currently have one night of practice till 8:30, and even rushing through some dinner and a shower, my daughter doesn't turn out the light till 10 pm. She goes to sleep in her school clothes for the next day so that she can get 15 minutes more of sleep. I'm really worried that my daughter is going to get injured. She is in the lower group on team (the team is split in half for practices) and she won't want to miss a minute of practice.

Sorry for this rambling message -- does anyone have advice here? I'm thinking I'll have to pull her out early most nights, which due to their consistent rotation schedule means she will always miss bars practice, her worst event.

Thanks for any advice, I feel trapped between supporting my child's dreams and taking care of her health,
LuckyMommy

It sounds like a normal gym life to me. My daughter has to wake up at 5:30am daily to leave the house by 6am and we get home by 9:30pm every night including Fridays. She is 8. Not every child can handle it, but it is the life of a gymnast. Our gym would not allow early pull out unless it was a special test or something.

 

[BlairBob]

12-14hours is currently on the high end for the current L4 but average for the new L4 (old L5).

 

[Deleted member 14190]

Hmm... Didn't realize there was a national standardized set of hours per level.


===
No not a national standard, just a no brainer. but what do i know, I'm just a coach and a parent of a gymnast...

 

[gymgal]

Hmm... Didn't realize there was a national standardized set of hours per level.
===
No not a national standard, just a no brainer....

Respectfully disagree. A great many very successful programs ran their old level 5s on 12 hour schedules. And past mini polls on CB show the average to be 10-14hrs, with 14-16hrs being average for past level 6 (again, very successful programs).

But the real point is - This is a parent forum and the OP was looking for parental input regarding making the transition to more hours easier on her family. She was not requesting input on whether her gym was up to speed on how many hours a new level 4 should be training.

Moderators, feel free to take this down if need be, but it had to be said.

 

[MeetDirector]

gymgal -

I hope that you are not implying that a coach cannot add thier 2 cents to a thread in the "parent forum"? I, as a parent, absolutely want a coach's 25 cents on anything I post. If I am misinterpreting, forgive me.

 

[bogwoppit]

Gymgal as coachp is a parent of a gymnast, they have the right to post from their parental perspective, we always hope coaches who post in the parents forum respect that.

 

[Flossyduck]

I pick my daughter up from school and take her straight to gym and she doesn't get home until about 10pm. I feed her in the car on the way to gym (I'm constantly planning as many varied and nutritious versions of a pack-up as I can and have become expert!). I have her take her leo off after gym and slip joggers on, so that if she falls asleep in the car I can carry her to bed. I have warm milk in a flask ready for her to drink on the way home. We get a weeks notice for homework and either do it over the weekend or if we get to gym a bit early. First couple of weeks of change to a training routine can be exhausting - especially that second week. Once the body clock adjusts you may fine she is fine. All you can do is try it and see what works for you. Good luck.

 

[gymgal]

Gymgal as coachp is a parent of a gymnast, they have the right to post from their parental perspective, we always hope coaches who post in the parents forum respect that.

Bog and meet director,
Like you, I fully appreciate coaches' input. That is a valuable part of CB. And I completely agree that coaches who are parents should be able to post on the parent forum. However, the posts in question appeared condescending in tone and certainly not from a parent perspective... Given other recent posts with similar tone, I don't think I am reading too much into it. Should I have just alerted a mod of my concern? Probably..... Lesson learned.

NOW, Let's get back on topic for the OP.

 

[bogwoppit]

You can always use the "report a post" function. This alerts all mods and admins to a post and then they will use the infraction system to deal with the problem as they see fit, or they will leave alone if they feel that is the right path. As a mod/admin I felt this post was okay, we certainly all have our online personas and I am seeing the Coachp's is a certain way. In the same way that Dunno can be a bit full on. But of course you should report any post you find offensive, that is why JBS created the system. Remember that the mods/admins do not read every post or even every thread, so we do need things to be brought to our attention, hence the "report this post" function.

 

[BlairBob]

You do have to watch when it gets to the end of the day for those young kids.

I remember a bunch of my young guys would wake up around 6am so when practice was ending at 730 it was nearly their bedtime. So by that time, they had been awake 13.5. I wanted an earlier practice start time. These guys would start fading towards the end of practice.

I also told them I'd write for them a note to take to daycare in the morning to just sleep an extra hour before school. I remember giving them a power nap during practice. It was awesome.

 

[iwannacoach]

.......I remember a bunch of my young guys would wake up around 6am so when practice was ending at 730 it was nearly their bedtime.......... These guys would start fading towards the end of practice.

.......a note to take to daycare in the morning to just sleep an extra hour before school. I remember giving them a power nap during practice. It was awesome.

I can't stand it when the kids seemingly fall asleep around the chalk tray without bothering to tell me, or even have the courtesy to lay down and be noticed. I call it rude, they call it bars.