WAG I've been banned.

[Ali'sMom]

Yeah - we can't be in her line of sight for beam either. Doesn't mean I have to hide or anything....just not in the seats where when she is on beam she's looking right at us. If the beam is set up so that we are viewing it from the side, it isn't a problem.

That's exactly how we are. I'm usually in front of floor. She WANTS me in front of floor to get the best video

I'm glad I don't have to go outside during beam, she would just prefer not to have me in her sight. I used to video with my phone, so I'd try to sneak around where I could get it, without her seeing me. Now I have a "REAL" video camera, and can zoom from further away. And it's all good

 

[SignHere]

Gymmies are an odd lot, aren't they? Older DD banned DH from meets, younger DD wants him there.... Bad luck/good luck !

 

[Deleted member 14190]

Well,,,, they just do better

 

[Faolmor]

I get in trouble if I'm NOT watching her every move - at the moment, anyway (she's 5, so she spends half her class waving to me to make sure I saw her do whatever skill she was working on). I have to be on the ball, too - if I miss a wave, I get in big trouble afterwards.

I'm sure the day will come when I'll be asked - probably not so subtly - to leave. Given that I live over an hour from the gym, I'm not quite sure what I'll do with myself!

 

[OzZee]

Hmm I've never watched so not sure.
11yr old likes to be dropped outside but I don't think she would mind if I watched. She doesn't mind if I'm there for other drop offs or pickups and likes to see me at the end.
Older dd couldn't care less either way. (but omg at 11 she wouldn't be seen dead around me)
Nearly 8 year old still would like me to sit and watch every single second of every single activity she does. Oh and no doubt then sleep I my bed afterwards. Even school she would like me there - or even better in her books would be if I home-schooled her. But she is now very good that I kiss and drop. I proud of her that she can separate even though I know it wouldn't be her choice.

 

[sewgood]

My DD would love it if I would stay and watch the whole time, but honestly my ADD kicks in. There is just no way I could sit, staring through glass, for 3-4 hours at a time. I get twitchy just thinking about that. Now, if I'm doing something when I sitting in there, I can handle it - like reading, knitting, etc. But I can't just stare for hours at a time. Plus, sometimes when I'm there, I notice she'll look for me, wave, etc, and she needs to be paying attention to her coaches not trying to determine whether I'm paying attention to her. And since she inherited her mother's goldfish-like attention span, sometimes it's better to just remove the temptation, so I make myself scarce.

A parent I was talking to at a meet said that their club had a parents' lounge for the team parents. You couldn't view the floor from this room, but it had tables and chairs, as well as easy chairs and couches, a tv, a vending machine, free wifi, etc. So basically, if you lived far away, you could go to the gym and get work done, read, just hang out with the other parents,whatever, without having to watch the kids. That seems like a really cool idea to me and helps meet the needs of the kids/coaches not having parents watching every minute and giving the parents a place to go when they live too far away to go home during practice. I realize most gyms probably don't have the space for this kind of set up (ours doesn't), but it is very cool for the families at that gym.

We do have free wifi and tables/chairs in the waiting room, which is nice. Sometimes I'll bring my laptop and get work done (or this week, bring my tax stuff and work on that... yes, I know it's April 3rd ). It's just so crowded and loud and I hate feeling like I'm taking a seat from a rec parent, kwim? But we do live too far away to drive home in between, so what can you do? Also, sometimes I go to a coffee shop where I can read comfortably or I'll go shopping. If my younger DD is with me, I'll take her to a park if it's nice out.

 

[Flossyduck]

My dd always wanted me to watch and always asked 'did you see...' whatever skills after each session. Then one day very recently, out of the blue, she asked 'are you staying' and there was something in her tone of voice that made me look up, she looked shifty. I said 'don't you want me to' and she replied that she didn't really mind, but she'd quite like it if I didn't this time. Which obviously meant hell no please don't!

Honestly, I smiled inwards and outwards. I was so pleased she felt able to tell me and that she knew what she wanted and it was actually really liberating!

Now she tells me if there's something she'd like me to watch and otherwise I don't. I love the blissful ignorance and she chatters spontaneously to me about how things went a lot more now she knows I didn't see for myself. And I don't see the falls and the struggles and fails, so my minds image is much rosier.

 

[sophiesmom]

I'm not always a fan of watching as the skills get bigger and scarier. I'm afraid my fear might rub off on dd. I watch occasionally but I do enjoy being surprised at what she's accomplished at meets.

 

[Canadian_gym_mom]

I keep seeing this thread and I keep thinking someone was banned from the Chalkbucket, lol.

 

[sce]

I get in trouble if I'm NOT watching her every move - at the moment, anyway (she's 5, so she spends half her class waving to me to make sure I saw her do whatever skill she was working on). I have to be on the ball, too - if I miss a wave, I get in big trouble afterwards.

I'm sure the day will come when I'll be asked - probably not so subtly - to leave. Given that I live over an hour from the gym, I'm not quite sure what I'll do with myself!

She's young, so in my opinion you being there that much is okay (and it sounds like logistically it's best for you.) BUT, I would discourage the waving and making sure you are always watching. I would talk with her about how you are there to support her, but her focus should be in the gym and on what the teacher is telling her to do.

 

[TxGymMom1]

When I told my 7 y/o L4 that her gymnastics career would soon be ending because I could just not bare to watch the back walkover on beam in L5, she told me -- I guess your time watching beam is ending Mom :-(