Parents Update on daughter and opinions wanted.

[Panda-girl's Mom]

So it has been a month since daughter has been out of the gym. I am not sure that she is adjusting. She was told by her ortho doctor to not do anything for 3 weeks let her heels rest and she is wearing arm splints on her wrist. Well that is not working out to well. She is taking off the wrist splints frequently now I can see why the doctor put a cast on her arm last year when she had wrist pain. She claims that the pain has not really improved since she stopped tumbling.
She signed her self up for a summer basketball league at her school practice started last week. So knowing that she probally should not be doing this and seeing how unhappy she has been I was a bad parent and let her go thinking only a couple hours of physical activity would not further harm her wrists and not excercabate the heel pain. They had sign ups in school and daughter really wanted to try it. Well I do not think it has helped with the pain. LOL. I also caught daughter doing cartwheels and hand stands when she thought I was not looking.
I personally think she really misses gym but will not admit it. She took all her trophies and hid them in a ottamen in her room claiming she does not want to look at them. She will not really talk to her gym friends. She brought a poster home from school that she drew of a balance beam hide that too and said I do not want to like gym anymore.
When I tried to talk to her and tell her if she changes her mind at the end of the summer that the head coach would willing take her back, her head coach told her this at the end of the year banquet. The only thing I can get out of her is that she hates going everyday in the summer and that she is mad at one of her former coaches the one she really liked. I did tell her I understand and I know it is alot of pressure doing USAG team and it is not an easy sport.
I did bring up that in the fall the Y has a team they do not do USAG and they do not practice intensely in the summer would she be interested. She would still be able to do other sports. She seemed to like that idea but does not bring it up unless I do. She also mentioned doing classes they have tumbling where alot of former teammates do at her old gym for 1 hour1x a week. Because she did mention she would like to do a class and maybe not compete. But when she was in the gym her true love was beam and bars not tumbling and she would not be able to do those events in her old gym at this class. So my question do I just let things go until she asks to do it, do I take her to the Y to explore a possiblity of doing their team in the fall or do I sign her up for tumbling in the fall. I am not sure if she just needs more time but I get this naggy feeling that she really misses gymnastics but it was just the combination of the heel wrist pain, the pressure of the coaching and having a rough year as a new level 6.
We are going to the orthopedic doctor next week for followup on her wrists and heels and she starts swim team next week. She is not showing me any of the ethususiam that she used to have for gym but I quess I will see.

 

[bogwoppit]

I wouldn't offer anything but swimming and biking until she is pain free. Just no point as she probably just needs to heal. Training in pain is no fun and perhaps doing nothing, relatively speaking will be good for her. Good luck at the doctors, I think that will be the beginning of finding out the answers.

 

[marie83]

Oh poor thing! Sounds like she is getting frustrated! Sporty people are the worst patients. Swimming sounds like it could be a good option. I hope she enjoys it!
Like bog says, training when you are injured or in pain is horrible. Perhaps her passion for gymnastics will return when she is healed, but whatever she decides to do, I wish her the best of luck!

 

[Tumblequeensmom]

YES!!! She definitely needs to be pain-free before she participates in any sports! That way she can enjoy whatever she chooses to do. I think swimming is a GREAT idea... it's now summertime, it's an exercise that is stress free on the body, but great for cardiiovascular endurance too.

Do you have any good prep opt. programs where you are? They can be a fantastic way to stay involved in the sport and yet have time for other activities too.

 

[gymcoach26]

Hmm lots going on here! Most importantly, like others have said, she really shouldn't be doing any sports until she is pain free or cleared by a Dr. Swimming was a great idea though. Maybe she could try out some other things like take an art, music or drama class in the mean time. When she is healed and if she wants to go back, I think the Y or Prep Opt track could be a good alternative. Less time commintment, less stress and more fun.

As far as "should you let things go until she asks, " well, no I don't think so. I think it is easier for some kids to have their parents ease into a "big" conversation than for the child to bring it up out of the blue on there own. Maybe she is uncomfortable or misunderstnding your good intentions. Be careful that it doesn't come off as you missing gym. When she is healed, maybe you could bring her to a trial class at a few places (at the Y, at the tumbling class, and maybe even a few other "out there" options that she may not hve considered before - Karate, Soccer etc.) After trying them all, you could let her decide which one she likes best. This way it provides her with other options and does not appear to her as either I do gym or I don't. Instead it's wow I really liked Karate a lot better and am going to work at being good at other things. It might feel less like disappointment or failure this way. (In no way am I saying she "failed", just that kids can view injuries that way. Hope that was clear)

 

[emorymom]

Once she is fully healed I'd take her to try the Y team or Prep Op. Around here they work out about 6 hours a week. That way she can enjoy the skills she has and learn some new ones, more slowly, but supersane with plenty of rest built into the week.

Competitive swimming is not stress-free -- but the Severs should be OK. I would ask your doctor about that wrist. Perhaps she needs to be in a waterproof cast for the first few weeks of the summer league season to really let things heal.

If she takes to it, swimming is a really great sport for low-hours gymnasts. A USA Swimming club will usually have 5-6 practices per week on the schedule but if you can't make 2 of them it's not the end of the world, it's rather expected that the swimmer will, until they get to a really high level, be juggling commitments. Also, as they advance, at some point the clubs start working them out in "dryland" practice but if she's going 2 days a week to a Prep Op or Y team, she would already have accomplished much of that and would probably be excused if she wanted to be. Certainly with a history of Severs she would not want to do any runs with a swim club until she stops growing, right?

With Severs I would not do basketball. That's very high impact on the legs.

Don't forget diving! Maybe she's a diver.

 

[maryRS]

I agree with the others have said. Let her rest for now, nothing high impact so she can heal and be pain free. Her hiding her trophies and posters and not talking to gym friends would concern me, only because I would want to know what is going on in her head. If she does think she'd like to return to gym, I would really consider the Y. My dd will be a level 6 next year at the Y, and will continue to practice 3 days a week, which gives her time to pursue other things. We have had several girls move from private gyms to our gym, most very good gymnasts but for a variety of reasons they just did not want the rigour of a private gym. IMO the Y is a great thing to be a part of, it really is more than just gymnastics, at least in our case.

 

[UnoMas]

Aw, poor thing. So much to process at a young age! It does sound like she wants to go back to gymnastics. But as others have said, she has to get the pain out of the way first. When she is pain free I think it would be great for her to "visit" the Y program. I bet she would be hooked if she saw it and tried it and then she can always move back into a more intense program someday if that is what she wants.
It really seems like she still has gym in her heart...

 

[Tumblequeensmom]

I meant that swimming is stress-free on the joints and bones. Especially compared to the high impact stress on the body from gymnastics!

 

[justanothergymmom]

I agree with what others have said-give her time to heal and be pain free before plunging into another activity (or back into gym) where she will likely aggravate her pain. It is such a tough job as a parent knowing when to push and when to back off. I don't think there is an easy answer to your situation but I guess the most important thing may be to tread lightly, and try to let some time pass before mentioning gymnastics.

As far as packing away her things, I can understand why she may have wanted to do that. This may sound stupid, but when my DDs swithched gyms it was very painful for me and I was unsure of whether I had made the right decision. I missed the old gym in some ways, and had developed close friendships with the other parents. Everytime I did laundry, I would see a shirt (or shorts) with the old gym's logo and it was like reopening a wound. I finally decided for my own good to temporarily pack away their old tees, and give myself time and space to come to terms with the decision, without the constant reminders of what I was missing. I am an ADULT (and it isn't even my sport!) and it was very hard for me to let go...imagine how tough it is for a child with the constant reminders of what she walked away from. It took 2 months for me to feel at ease and good about the decision. Give her a little time in coping with this loss her way, and then see how she feels.

Good luck at the dr's--I hope they get to the bottom of why she is still hurting.

 

[emorymom]

I meant that swimming is stress-free on the joints and bones. Especially compared to the high impact stress on the body from gymnastics!

Um. No. Compared to gymnastics, there is definitely less injury. Shoulder surgery is not horribly uncommon and the knees of breaststrokers have some definite stress because of the motion (whereas the other kicks strain the knee less).

Also, swimmers probably just drop dead more often that gymnasts have life-ending injuries in practice. About 20 years ago, one of the varsity swimmers on my college's team died in a workout the summer between college and med school. Then it happened again a few years ago in the same pool to a college age swimmer. And of course Fran Crippen died last summer.

But it shouldn't cause Severs.

 

[ARKGYMMOM]

I have a friend that her daughter was hurt multiple times with tumbling. She has gone through a lot of the same things until she found diving. They have an amazing core workout and she still gets to tumble through the air but not the same impact as a floor if you know what I mean. She has excelled amazingly because she already understood the basics of how to move her body. Just a thought......