Parents Opinion on driving morning of meet or hotel night befor

[Greyhound]

DD has a level 8 meet about 3.5 hours away on a Friday. Report time 11:30am. Can't decide whether to go morning of, which will allow her to sleep in her own bed (she hates hotel beds night before a meet) and get a practice in the night before, but she will have to get up very early and then have a long drive. Or, we can go up after school on Thursday and skip practice, but be able to sleep in before meet. One other choice is to go for a short early pratice and then leave, but the downside of that is driving at night (husband and I don't do well with night driving). Also, that would get us in at around 10pm. Just curious as to opinions.

 

[dynamicduo]

My vote is go the day before! That's a long drive and traffic might not be so good on a Friday morning! All of our meets are far and we usually always go the night before, unless it's a late afternoon meet. I prefer driving at night, but since you don't, I'd say just leave after school!

 

[Rockygym]

I agree, go the night before. There is a lot that can go wrong in 3.5 hours

 

[Muddlethru]

My 14 year old daughter does not like driving the day of the meet. She said it tires her out. However, she does not mind sleeping in hotels. Also our gym does not practice the day before a meet. We usually have it as a rest or travel day. It really depends on your daughter, what she feels suits her best, makes her feel well rested, your family and budget. We always go the day before unless the drive is under 2 hours.

 

[Natasha]

It really just depends on your daughter. We have often driven the morning of for a late morning meet and even for an 8am meet if it is less than 90 minute drive, but my dd does not sleep well in hotels and does not mind getting up early.

 

[mom2newgymnast]

I'd vote for the day before. But like a pp, my dd's team doesn't usually have practice the night before a meet. I'd be too nervous about something going wrong (traffic, etc) if we left the day of considering how far away it is.

 

[vbdb]

We drive the morning of whenever we can because no one sleeps well at the hotel and leaving the house at 8am isn't that early. But a 3.5hr drive is a bit long to be sitting before a meet and we'd probably opt for the sleepover at a hotel in this case.

 

[vbdb]

We drive the morning of whenever we can because no one sleeps well at the hotel and leaving the house at 8am isn't that early. But a 3.5hr drive is a bit long to be sitting before a meet and we'd probably opt for the sleepover at a hotel in this case.

 

[GymMom4]

Another vote for the day before.

Unless a meet is only a couple of hours away we usually go the day before so that kids aren't too tired from the trip.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

Depends on your kid and where you live regarding weather.

My daughter does well in hotels, she is a great traveler. On the other hand she gets up around 7 am and not used to hitting the ground running and I would never cut report time close with a 3.5 hour ride. Being up early enough for me to be comfortable traveling day of wouldn't be good for her. Add in the stress to me worrying about traffic delays which she would pick up on...............

We would stay overnight. I know we would all get a good night sleep, stay somewhere with breakfast included, which is a real treat for her. Have a leisurely morning with plenty of time to get to the meet.

The other disclaimer we don't have a lot of distance travel for meets so in the scheme of things regarding the cost of gymnastics, a hotel once or twice a season, is not that big of deal.

 

[cbifoja]

Boy that's a tough call given your DD doesn't do hotels well. I think that IF she sleeps in the car, I would at least entertain the idea of driving up the morning. Now me personally, we like the hotel experience so I'd drive up the night before and have a nice relaxing morning. I don't sleep the night before a meet regardless of where I am sleeping so that wouldn't be a problem.

 

[Greyhound]

Thanks for all of your feedback. Yep, I think night before will be the plan.

 

[duyetanh]

I think the night before is really the way to go, glad you are doing it. It's just too far...what if there was an accident?

To make things easier, maybe have your daughter bring her own pillow, a fave stuffie, tell her she can pick the place for dinner...I am wondering if it is just nerves that get her before the meet, or is it something else?

On a personal note, we always go down the night before, because none of our meets are closer than almost 3 hours away. If we drove it the day of, we would ALL be nervous wrecks. The doing of the hair the morning of alone would give me fits, and my dd takes her cues from me, as all of our dd's do...better for your dd to be able to chill in that room and watch random junk on TV if she wakes up ungodly early, and that way she will have one less worry in terms of will you actually GET to the meet. Good luck to your dd!!

 

[munchkin3]

If you go the morning of, stress will be at an all time high......Imagine the most insignificant traffic jam......at 9am, rush hour.....
Why?

 

[profmom]

Eh, 11:30 report time? No way I'd book a hotel for that. Even to leave yourself a really good cushion, you'd be leaving no earlier than she usually leaves for school.

But I am something of a cheapskate.

 

[Greyhound]

Well, the main reason why we were going to leave in the morning is because we have to have coverage for my son and get my son to school, and taking him out is not an option. If we leave the night before my husband can't come unless he drives up by himself the next day, which he might still do. Believe it or not, with the exception of one other fairly local meet an hour and a half away, all of our meets are fly meets, so this one is somewhere in the middle of what to do. I booked the hotel room a long time ago, but because I have this other variable with my son I'm on the fence on what to do, but dd and I might get a ride with someone the night before and have my husband meet us there on the day of the meet. Dd does not get very nervous before meets, she just does not sleep well in beds that are not her own. If we left the morning of, we would leave after dropping my son off at 7 am. But I think we are going to head out the night before.

 

[gymmomx2]

Eh, 11:30 report time? No way I'd book a hotel for that. Even to leave yourself a really good cushion, you'd be leaving no earlier than she usually leaves for school.

But I am something of a cheapskate.

This is us too. DS as a meet 5 hours away in December. Registration closes at 1:00pm...we are driving. Leaving Saturday morning at 6am, planning to stop every 1.5 hours for a quick run/stretch, don't expect any traffic at that time.

He's not getting up any earlier than any of his previous meets which all had registration times of 7:30am. It's going to be his first time competing in the afternoon!!!

 

[JoyAvenueMom]

On another note...we actually plan some meets based on what teammates are doing. When the leos are hung and collecting dust, the travel memories will be some of her favories: hotel stays mean dinner with friends, making your own waffles in the hotel lobby, borrowing forgotten items (nail polish remover, hair ties, hair spray, scrunchies, etc) hanging out and playing goofy games, swimming in the hotel pool (AFTER the meet of course) So, I tend to lean toward overnight stays when there are teammates who plan to stay overnight as well.

 

[twinmomma]

I'd recommend the night before. DD had a meet 2.5 hours away and we ended up with a major big rig accident over the pass and while we detoured, we were in the middle of flash flood warnings. She made it to the meet 5 min after warm ups started and we left with time to get her there 45 min BEFORE that. We'll never do that again.

 

[twinmomma]

I'd recommend the night before. DD had a meet 2.5 hours away and we ended up with a major big rig accident over the pass and while we detoured, we were in the middle of flash flood warnings. She made it to the meet 5 min after warm ups started and we left with time to get her there 45 min BEFORE that. We'll never do that again.