Anyone else have little facial expressions or hand signals they use?

[Deanna]

Now before anyone says anything about how I shouldnt be communicating with my daughter while she is competeing..let me explain and please fully read before you respond. I would NEVER try to talk to my daughter while she is competeting or try distracting her in anyway. Im not trying to sound rude..but for some reason I have a really hard time expressing things the right way on here and Im misunderstood often...lol.

Now, what Im wondering is..is there a hand signal or facial expression you have with your DD for competitions or really any time where they want to say "hey mom..love ya"...or they need that little bit of reassurance?

With Kadee we have two. One is just a 2 second blink. Which when she was little she couldnt really do that well and would scrunch up her whole face..so thats kinda what it evloved into..lol

And another one is "okay" symbol. Which for her~as she explained it to me~ means..."I love you to eternity"..because its a circle..and circles never end.

There was only one time at a meet where she actually knew where we were sitting during competition time. (it was her first meet) At this meet she mounted the beam the wrong way, when she turned around she was kinda "lost" looking..she glanced at me and I blinked. She kinda did a little nod and off she went. Ive made sure she doesnt know where we are until awards time (if she even knows then) after that..because I dont want her to depend on me to give her that confidence..she needs to find it in herself.

The other times, she will do the okay sign during awards. I equate it along the lines of Carol Burnette and pulling her ear for her grandmother.

Just wondering if anyone else had any little things like that. We dont just do this at comps..she did it at her kindergarten graduation and such too. She just has more going on with gymnastics than anything else..lol

I hope I made sense in this. I tend to go on and on..because Im afraid of being misunderstood. And then I think I end up saying too much and just confusing people..lol

 

[SkiBumGymMom]

Bri (DD) and I were always able to communicate at meets- if we had wanted to. We didn't though (except when she wasn't actually competing and instead halfway across the venue and I'd be up in the seats and we'd start signing about how to get a ride home... but that's not what you're looking for!) and instead for encouragement we'd give each other the 'ILY' sign in ASL (it's the one sign that everyone knows and means 'I love you'). Shawn Johnson even did it at the Olympics (Bri was ecstatic) to her parents, so it's not just something Deaf people use, it's not distracting and very cute in my opinion. We also as a gym clapped by waiving our hands in the air for Bri, on top of that being the way to clap in Deaf culture, it ended up being a fun unique way to show support.

 

[gymgal]

I understand and we tend to just nod and smile to each other if we catch eyes. Sometimes if I catch her eye before a comp., I'll do a really big fake smile and she will laugh. She NEVER smiles during routines, even at the end of a really good one. So it's a running joke. She laughs a little and goes on her way. But mostly, she avoids looking anywhere near the audience. She has been trained well. From when she was very little she has been taught to stay focused on her coaches and her teammates in practice. It just carries over to competition.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

everything you just described is a distraction to some degree. she belongs to gymnastics while on the competitive floor. that's all.

p.s. and i didn't misunderstand you and didn't think you were being rude. and you may be confusing your daughter...

 

[Deanna]

And I agree..to a degree..lol. This is why after that first meet and she actually looked at me when she made a mistake..that I made sure she had no idea where we were until awards time. And twice she didnt even know then where we were. I totaly agree that when the competition is going on..that she doesnt need to worry about finding me for any reason..which is why i normaly sit in a upper level seat..or kinda hide behind a pillar..ect. But, I dont think there is anything wrong with her spotting me in the crowd during awards and giving me a little signal. But thats me...lol

 

[NewtoGym]

She is very little. As she gets older she will not even probably pay attention to you!

 

[DbacksMom75]

During practice we have "the people's eyebrow"..originally done by WWF wrestler The Rock...if she is goofing off and looks over at me I will raise my one eyebrow up like him and she knows it's time to buckle down. We also have "thumbs up" when she lands something like her BHS or ROBHS series she's been working on. At comps I avoid her completely while she's with her coaches...it's "game on" as we say in our house and all attention needs to be on the comp not on me waving or making faces at her. At one comp the coaches asked for the parents to sit in the front rows so the girl's could see us while they competed..it was a DISASTER! The kids were so busy worrying about what we were doing and looking over at us they messed up their jump sequence and ended up near last place at the end of the day. The coaches never wanted us to be in the front row again...lol
Luckily enough at cheer comps it is so dark and with all of the stage lighting the kids can't see the audience past the first few rows!

 

[Bobby]

everything you just described is a distraction to some degree. she belongs to gymnastics while on the competitive floor. that's all....

Hmmm ... so what about those of us who are obsessed with recording our girls' competitions from the closest possible vantage point? At least I don't call out asking her to smile for the camera any more.

 

[DbacksMom75]

You want distracting? A few years ago I posted to here about my dd's experience at her 1st real competition, they had asked the pre team girls to come watch so they had an idea of what competing really was. A dad blew a blow horn while a child was on beam...true story...

 

[gymmutti]

I can't stop laughing about the blow horn. If I had been a parent at that meet I would have been furious but sitting here and imagining that some parent actually thought a blow horn at a gym meet was a great idea is too funny. My dd doesn't compete for another month and I plan to hide away from her. However, we always give each other the ILY sign when she goes off to school in the morning or if I want to give her a hug but know that would be "way too embarrassing". Usually we flash the sign to each other super fast and then she gives me a big grin.

 

[NGL780309]

I avoid making any contact with DD at all during meets because I'm so darn nervous and I'm afraid she will see that or pick up on it. I also try to avoid sitting anywhere that she could really see me if she wanted to. I'm afraid that if I'm too close to the equipment she may be distracted. At her very first meet the beam was directly in front of me. We got to the meet and I was like cool, front row seats. I figured out quickly why nobody else was sitting there. She did fine, but I really didn't like it. It's not really a problem for her because even at practice she's the kid who won't ever look at me.

 

[GymGirl's Mom]

No, but when DD is nervous she pulls on her earlobe- it's a dead giveaway every time.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

a spiritual relative of carol burnett? ^^^

 

[CoachGoofy]

I'm coachlady, not momlady, but I teach our team kids some pretty useful (I think) signs. I hate shouting across a gym, so if they can ask me if they can go to the bathroom from where they are....good! Since at meets we sometimes are spread really thin (T&T = 3 places to be at any one time), being able to communicate across a venue makes everyone's life easier.

 

[Deanna]

Yeah, the blow horn is just a wee bit extreme..lol. After that very first meet with Kadee..i always make sure Im hidden too. Like I said, I dont want her looking to me for confidence..she has to be able to find that with in herself. I had told her after that meet that I would no longer be in the front row where she could see me. If she got nervous or messed up, she had to work through it, and if she just couldnt find it in herself to do so..it was her coach she needed to turn to..not me. The time she had a nasty fall off of beam (shot right over the top on her mount..lol) she never even glanced towards the audience. I was proud of her..for a 5 year old..i thought that was pretty grown up of her. But since the very first meet (when I didnt know any better than to sit in the front)..i have hidden and I havent noticed her looking for me until awards..then I see her kinda glancing around a little..if she sees me she will give me the blink or okay sign..and I will give it back. I learned my lesson on that first meet, not to sit in the front anymore...lol. I have seen (heard) other kids and parents yelling out for each other during meets (not while girls are competeing..but before it starts)..ive seen girls spotting their parents and jumping up and down...waving franticly. Ive told her that is something we are not going to do..but if she wants to keep blinking or giving me the okay sign during awards that is perfectly fine. Ive also learned to tune everyone around me out...you can hear some really mean things being said. But thats a whole other topic..lol

 

[SkiBumGymMom]

In response to the distraction thing, I don't totally disagree. Just for contextualization, my post was more in regards to what Bri and I did when she was as a teenager at big meets. It was when she wasn't competing rather walking off the floor or going to warm up. I definitely wouldn't do it (and she wouldn't do it back) when she's on the vault runway or waiting for her floor routine to start that's for sure!

 

[gym law mom]

I think its fine for the girls to look at you/send some signal while waiting for and during awards. During the meet they need to be totally focused on the routines/coach etc.
My gymmie never looks at us. One time we were sitting right in the 1st row as they walked by to the next event---she didn't even blink.

 

[Deanna]

Yeah, we dont do it during comps either..except that very first time..thats why I make sure she doesnt know where I am now. Just in case she feels the urge..lol. We dont just do these signals during awards. She will sometimes just look at me across the dinner table and scrunch her face up..and I know she is saying she loves me..lol. I just thought it would be cute to see what everyones little signs were..cause Im sure everyone has them. That Momma and Baby sign between the two of you..thats just yours. One of those tiny pleasures of being a parent.

 

[Trixiebelle]

We do, but it is for everything - not just gymnastics. A few years ago DD said it embarrassed her to say "I love you" out loud in public, so me made up a gesture that means I love you instead. I thought it was original until I read the first post - as our gesture is pulling our earlobe!

I've used it when she marches in or if I catch her eye in between events, but that rarely happens.

 

[lilgymmie7]

Because of this statement alone, I have to disagree with who ever can say the kids get distracted whatever...DD is quite focused and very darn determined for a seven year old. I can't say that I can think of a definite time that she has looked at me during a competition or at practice, etc. However, I know that if she does I ALWAYS wink at her. This child is my love; if she 'looks' at me, it is for a reason. She looked my way for a reason. I will be darned if I look away and not acknowledge her!
This is the same child that at 6 stayed at a hotel for a week with her teammates. She doesn't look for me for reassurance. She looks at me just because. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't express both verbally and non verbally my deep love towards my three children.
Deanna, you are right! There are certain things we Mommas and Daddys do to show our love to our children. However, in the same token when my DS is 'doing his thang...' my husband and I don't look his way. Why...because this kid puts far too much pressure on himself. Each kid is different. We as parents need to be in tune with that. But as for DD, we can smile, wink, and say "I love you." and she goes on as if we didn't. But she still needs to experience it.