Parents New here, mom to two new gymnasts :)

[Twinmom]

Hello! I am happy to have found this forum, it's full of so much great info.! My twin girls (4 1/2) started gymnastics in October. We tried a dance class before that, and they were bored & not wanting to go :/ So, gymnastics it was! They are loving it, and just recently their coach recommended they move to the 5/6 year old class. I have no gymnastics knowledge or experience (they get their apparent natural athletic talent from their dad and really had no clue about "levels" and how they work until I google searched it today (and happened to find this forum!)
It sounds a little more complicated than I bargained for signing them up for a little tumbling class! Lol, but I am happy they have found something they love to do, and grateful that at this point they seem to be progressing at about the same rate so they can stay together. If there are any other moms of twins here, how do you handle it if and when they don't?! The thought of them being compared in that way, or separated kind of scares me, but I guess we'll cross that bridge if and when we get there.
It is fun & interesting to see them develop different strengths though! One of them has just perfected her cartwheel (the other isn't even close) and the other is the only one in her class who can do a pullover!
Anyway, looking forward to watching them grow with gymnastics & learning as we go.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

welcome, and thank you for supporting your local gymnastics club!

 

[OzZee]

Welcome.
Yah for finding something your kids are loving.
Sounds like they are quite different gymnasts (did the one that is good at cartwheels prefer dance to the other one?) but great they are both loving it.
Having siblings in the same sport/school/world etc will always end with some comparisons/competition between them even if you don't know it but worry about it when it happens I say.

 

[J&A's mom]

Sounds like they are very different gymnasts. I think that may help with the comparisons. My son has a a teammate thatis basically the same age as him, and luckily, they are so different . It helps them to support each other.

 

[Jenny]

Welcome - sounds like you have one flexible and one strong. Hope they continue to enjoy themselves.

 

[kwnative]

It sound like you got started much the same way we did. I had my daughter in a ballet class when she was 3. She loved going, and even now says she loved taking ballet, but when she was actually there, all she wanted to do was run around the room. Even though this was a 3 year old class, she and one other girl were the only ones who behaved that way on a a consistent basis. The following summer, when she was 4, I decided to enroll her in a 6-week gymnastics session, just to see how she liked it, and she just took right to it. She was still very bouncy, but in gymnastics, the coaches didn't care! It is now five years later, and she is a Level 4, still loving it, and doing very well!

Good luck to them, and I hope they continue to love gymnastics. That is the most important thing....that they love what they do.

 

[MaryA]

I have twin girls too... They're about to turn 12 and don't believe the "tween" hype. They're both lovely and two of my favorite people to hang out with in the world. They both tried gym when they were about 5 1/2. Only one stuck with it. The other went back to dance (which, like yours, they had tried and quit before). I'm not sure if my nerves and my budget would survive two gymnasts. And even with them being in different activities (especially with gymnastics being pretty all-encompassing) the competition and keeping things "fair" at all times can be hard, but you'll figure it out as you go. Welcome to CB!

 

[Twinmom]

I have twin girls too... They're about to turn 12 and don't believe the "tween" hype. They're both lovely and two of my favorite people to hang out with in the world. They both tried gym when they were about 5 1/2. Only one stuck with it. The other went back to dance (which, like yours, they had tried and quit before). I'm not sure if my nerves and my budget would survive two gymnasts. And even with them being in different activities (especially with gymnastics being pretty all-encompassing) the competition and keeping things "fair" at all times can be hard, but you'll figure it out as you go. Welcome to CB!

Thanks for all the welcomes! It's funny, one of them does enjoy dance more than the other, and I am hoping she will go back to it one day without feeling like she needs her sister there too. Her sister has a much more intense focus and I can see gymnastics being very fulfilling for her type-A personality as she gets older. And yes, how does one's budget survive gymnastics for more than one child if they are going multiple times per week?! Not looking forward to that day if and when it comes!

 

[emorymom]

Twinmom it's not as expensive as you think. Around here you will pay $60/month for one hour a week of rec class but $200/month for 9 hours/week of team, for example. As you move up in hours you will move down in cost per hour.

 

[Twosmiles]

Another mom of twins here. Welcome to CB!

My girls love gym too and its the only thing they have stuck with (and we have tried almost everything!). It is amazing to watch them grow in gym and its the highlight of their week (6 yo).

There will be challenges and differences along the way and now that your girls are getting older you'll see this more. One of my girls excels at swimming and the other does not. One of my girls excels at math while the other excels at language and so forth. Its just going to come with the territory.

It was tough for us to mange it at first until DH started the practice that if someone accomplishes a significant milestone the whole family celebrates equally. So, if one moves up a level we all get ice cream. If the other moves up two months later we get ice cream again. It works at this age level and no one is really getting upset.

For us its better when they are in separate classes as they focus so much better (they tend to wind each other up). However, it does get much more difficult when they get older though and hours increase and specialty classes run on specific days / times. Mine are identical and tracking equally so they've been in the same class for about a year now.

To keep them behaving in class, I typically stay and watch to ensure that their behavior/ focus is good. If so, we get a treat after gym. I do not reward for skills as these will come at different times and I don't want to encourage competition between them. At this age its just about listening, focus, and fun.

Enjoy these precious moments and take lots of pictures (non-flash in the gym!). They just grow up so fast!

twosmiles

p.s. we love Montessori for twins as it focuses on the individual child which also reduces comparisons in school

 

[Moxiegrl83]

Thanks for all the welcomes! It's funny, one of them does enjoy dance more than the other, and I am hoping she will go back to it one day without feeling like she needs her sister there too. Her sister has a much more intense focus and I can see gymnastics being very fulfilling for her type-A personality as she gets older. And yes, how does one's budget survive gymnastics for more than one child if they are going multiple times per week?! Not looking forward to that day if and when it comes!

You can also ask whoever takes your payments about sibling discounts. If you have a sibling on team, our gym gives 25% off the 2nd child.

 

[MaryA]

I think, at that age, my girls felt like they "needed" the other in any activity to make it OK. They outgrew that pretty quickly. We put them in the same class for Kindergarten, but after that they wanted to be in different classes. They now are involved in different activities, have different friends, dress totally differently (gymmie: sweat pants or yoga pants, gymnastics t-shirt, fleece with gym logo, Uggs... that's it. That's all she ever wears... except that she loses the fleece and changes over to Keens when the weather gets warm... dancer: wears a skirt every day, dresses in a carefully planned "ensemble". Doesn't own sweat pants or yoga pants.). If you saw them together, the only thing that might give away that they are twins is that they are a) the same age and b) fighting. Anyway, I wouldn't worry that your girls will always feel like they need to stay in the same activities.

 

[Twinmom]

Twinmom it's not as expensive as you think. Around here you will pay $60/month for one hour a week of rec class but $200/month for 9 hours/week of team, for example. As you move up in hours you will move down in cost per hour.

Wow, that seems really good. I just checked and at our gym it's nearly $300 a month for 4 hours per week (2 classes, 2 hours each) yikes! Those are rec classes, does it get less expensive if the child is on the team generally speaking?

 

[my4buffaloes]

Welcome! There were twins in my dd's class last year. In June they separated them. one started competing and one continued on the developmental team. It has been hard for the parents to accept it, but it does seem to be best for the girls. In the end that is what is important, right? As long as the gym (and you) treat them as their own person and do what is best for each child it should be fine.

 

[MaryA]

Wow, that seems really good. I just checked and at our gym it's nearly $300 a month for 4 hours per week (2 classes, 2 hours each) yikes! Those are rec classes, does it get less expensive if the child is on the team generally speaking?

Yes, less per hour for team, generally speaking. You must live in a pretty "high rent" area. My DD goes just shy of 20 hours per week and we don't pay $300/month! It really varies by location.

 

[Twinmom]

Yes, less per hour for team, generally speaking. You must live in a pretty "high rent" area. My DD goes just shy of 20 hours per week and we don't pay $300/month! It really varies by location.

We live in a big city, but it's no New York or San Francisco. There are several gyms within a 30 minute drive from where we live, ours has a great reputation but it is more expensive than the others. I don't know enough about gymnastics to know if you get what you pay for? So far, our experience at this gym has been great , it seems very organized and professional and the coaches are very good. Hopefully there is some discounted plan at the more advanced levels (guess I should probably find out!)

 

[gymmomtoo]

welcome to the board--no twins here, but hope your girls love the sport

 

[rgmom]

Hi twinmom, welcome to the CB. I have 11 year old identical twin girls who are now both USAG level 7s. They started in gymnastics at 3 years old, in a rec class because I wanted them to learn how to do a cartwheel. I never in a million years expected their gymnastics to morph into what it is today. They have mostly progressed at the same rate and although they have different strengths, they have never been separated. That may happen in the future, but we just take one season at a time. I do know of another set of twins who compete and were separated as one progressed a little faster than the other.