Parents DD moved to Level 3, Mom isn't ready for it!!

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My DD is 6 years old. She has been on a non-sanctioned team doing USAG level 3 routines. She loves practices, but isn't so crazy about the meets. She just got invited to move up to sanctioned level 3 starting in the summer months. Her practice will be twice a week for 3 hours each time. She is so excited about moving up. I however, am wanting to pull her out and have her just do a rec. class. I need a break from shuttling her back and forth! We live 20 minutes from the gym making it hard to run back and forth. Please help! I don't want her to lose all that she has worked so hard for. Friendships, skills, goal setting, etc... BUT I feel that it would be a great thing for our family to move her to strictly recreational classes. I am seeing the future already and I don't want to be in this same situation next spring when she gets moved up to level 4.

Anyone ever had these same feelings?? I need so great advice!! Thank U!!!
 
Hi there,


Maybe it would be a good time to try some other activities closer to home to see if that works better for your family. Twice a week is just the beginning of gymnastics and as she is obviously getting good at gymnastics and is so young her hours would increase yearly. Four times a week for 3 hours is quite normal for Level 5, do you think that would work for your family? TO invest all the time and money now when you are uncertain of your ability to commit might be an issue down the road.

Is is better to stop now before she is truly hooked, or would it be better to see have far she can go before you have really had enough of the driving? Only you can ansewr that one.

As a Mom who drives endless Km's per week to get my two girls to gym, I have to say I do it because they love gym and it is one of the few things they can do in our rural area. But if I didn't have a great hubby to share in the whole deal I don't know if I could've done it for the past 9 years.

It is a big family commitment, good luck with your choice.
 
You have to do what is best for your whole family and not just 1 child. If you feel that the transport back and forth will cause problems/tension then best to not commit to this team program. You said she likes the practice, but not really into competition so she may not be all that upset about doing only rec classes and see what else you could find for her to do close to home.

Bog, is right on point that as she moves up, so do the hours and number of days you're driving to the gym. Another option might be trying to find a parent who will carpool with you. If that doesn't work, I would make the change sooner than later----much easier on everyone.
 
Just as the others have said, the higher the level, the more hours they put in at the gym. We live over 30 minutes away from our gym. We were fortunate to have a higher level mom that lives 2 minutes from my dd's school and daycare, whose dd is in the gym from 9am-4pm, picking my kids up 3 times a week and driving them in. I work in the same city that our gym is in and it's a lot of time in my car when I have to leave work early to run up to the school or day care to pick her up for a 4:00 practice. I also have a son to worry about so yeah, you have to consider the whole family when making a decision to keep her involved. The lucky thing is that this is the only activity she does right now (she's only 7) but it's the only one she wants to do. We've approached her about other things but honestly, she's just not interested. She's been in this gym for almost 5 years and I think she considers it her 2nd home!

Good luck with your decision. Maybe you could find another family to carpool with? I know it's helped me!
 
I would try the recreational classes since she does not love the meets. I do not see a point of the money and commitment if she does not like competeing.
 
Tough decision, but I agree with the others, if it isn't something you think will work for your family, then I wouldn't let her start competing now, only to pull her out when hours really start to increase. It definitely is a lifestyle the whole family ends up living.

My daughter will be 7 in July. She competed level 4 this past year and is repeating it this year (we switched gyms and they are more strict with move ups) but I think she could use the year to mature and because I can't imagine driving to the gym 4 days a week or her doing 16 hours a week at her age. Every family is different and we have girls here that did just that and are fine, but for us right now, I think that repeating level 4, doing less hours for another year, etc, works out better for us. She is already at the gym 3 days a week. I feel like we are always at the gym.

Not saying I don't love it though, because I do. My daughter is a different kid at the gym and I love all the positives it brings out in her. She loves it and thrives on being there, so we are okay with it. Had I known a year ago what I know now, I might have done things differently.

Good luck deciding what to do. Some kids NEVER like competing. At DD's old gym, one of her friends was extremely talented. At age 6 they wanted to move her to level 4, but she didn't want to compete, she moved up to team at 7 1/2 and still didn't compete all year, not because she wasn't ready skill wise, but because she just didn't want to compete.
 

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