GymmieC
Proud Parent
I just had a mommy meltdown with DD today due to her excessive talking with her friends at gym. Let me preface my situation. I am NOT a cgm who pushes my DD to perform. I love my children regardless of what they do. But sometimes, and it is usually tied to when I have to write a big check to her gym that I ask myself, " Why am I paying this much money if she isn't going to take it seriously?" DD is usually a hard worker who is determined to do her very best but there are times that she slacks off and talks too much I know. Her coach also asked me to stress to her that they need her to do what they know she can and that she needs to work hard every day not just some of the days.
I just spent about an hour explaining to a friend my push for DD which is to learn the correlation between hard work and success. I am pretty sure my friend now understands that I stress hard work above everything. I am not the kind of mom that pays for privates to get my child ahead. She has had three privates to date, and she has been involved in competitive gymnastics since she was four years old. she is now 9 and is training level 8. I don't push her to be the best above her teammates either.
I read the thread asking, " How do I motivate a little gymnast?" Her Dd was fairly young, six I believe. My DD is motivated intrinsically most times. I put my foot in my mouth last season when she got down on herself about her bwo ff series on beam, and I told her if she sticks it at her next meet, because I know you can, I will get you what you want. I should have put a limit on that prize because I was initially out $100! Trust me NEVER again will I do that!!
Coaches, parents, gymnasts, etc. How old is a gymnast expected to be before he/she understands the value of hard work? I can gauge when she is having an off day and when she is just plain slacking. From reading the above post, I have gathered that we all understand that the money is exorbitant in gym and if the child isn't intrinsically motivated to work hard then gym may not be the sport for the child. I probably have had to talk to DD about two or three times this past year about working hard, but the fact that I have talked with her warrants my question again, HOW OLD SHOULD A CHILD BE BEFORE WE CAN EXPECT THAT SAID CHILD TO UNDERSTAND THE VALUE OF HARD WORK? All comments would be useful. As a teacher sometimes my mom glasses get clouded because I expect my nine yo to behave like my 12-14 yo students.
On an aside, when I was talking to DD today, I noted her eyes getting teary. But she fought them back. I told her to get back to practice and I'd better see her not talking and listening to her coaches. She did just that. By the way, I dont stay to watch practice, but I do workout at gym inside her gym. I came in 1.5 hrs before practice, and that's what I saw...
I just spent about an hour explaining to a friend my push for DD which is to learn the correlation between hard work and success. I am pretty sure my friend now understands that I stress hard work above everything. I am not the kind of mom that pays for privates to get my child ahead. She has had three privates to date, and she has been involved in competitive gymnastics since she was four years old. she is now 9 and is training level 8. I don't push her to be the best above her teammates either.
I read the thread asking, " How do I motivate a little gymnast?" Her Dd was fairly young, six I believe. My DD is motivated intrinsically most times. I put my foot in my mouth last season when she got down on herself about her bwo ff series on beam, and I told her if she sticks it at her next meet, because I know you can, I will get you what you want. I should have put a limit on that prize because I was initially out $100! Trust me NEVER again will I do that!!
Coaches, parents, gymnasts, etc. How old is a gymnast expected to be before he/she understands the value of hard work? I can gauge when she is having an off day and when she is just plain slacking. From reading the above post, I have gathered that we all understand that the money is exorbitant in gym and if the child isn't intrinsically motivated to work hard then gym may not be the sport for the child. I probably have had to talk to DD about two or three times this past year about working hard, but the fact that I have talked with her warrants my question again, HOW OLD SHOULD A CHILD BE BEFORE WE CAN EXPECT THAT SAID CHILD TO UNDERSTAND THE VALUE OF HARD WORK? All comments would be useful. As a teacher sometimes my mom glasses get clouded because I expect my nine yo to behave like my 12-14 yo students.
On an aside, when I was talking to DD today, I noted her eyes getting teary. But she fought them back. I told her to get back to practice and I'd better see her not talking and listening to her coaches. She did just that. By the way, I dont stay to watch practice, but I do workout at gym inside her gym. I came in 1.5 hrs before practice, and that's what I saw...