Time for Other Activies

[bogwoppit]

THat is not easy Netty. Gym can be all consuming and I know in the US club seems to expect a lot from their gymnasts and parents. Here it is very easy to follow a lighter path and still have fun and progress. Albeit more slowly.

(((hugs))) for you, hopefully you and hubby can find a path that suits the family.

 

[Megley]

I totally agree with Lizzie about swimming. I was a year round swimmer from about age 12 on and it consumed my life - practice every day and in HS, two a days, and meets that went on and on and on. Seriously, swim meets last forever and are about as interesting as watching paint dry! Diving might be better, but I'm betting not by much.

Netty, I'm really sorry to hear about dh's issues with gym. Maybe dance is something you could try? Though that gets expensive too. I have to agree that anything she does more than recreationally is likely to be expensive. Thankfully for my dd, my dh's brother was a gymnast all the way through college so he gets it, though he isn't thrilled about the cost.

 

[flipper's fan]

netty, gymnastics sure does start to rule your lives and wallets once you get a few years in. Since your DD is only 9, I'll bet within the next few years she develops some other interests even if she does not want to let up on the gymnastics. Diving is an excellect idea, IMHO. The diving program my DD tried was full of gymnasts, they were all very good divers, and the coach loved having them ( although he would often snicker- gymnasts! you have to break them of their bad habits) A tidbit he shared with us was that there are NCAA schools everywhere with diving programs they can't fill and the scholarships are waiting for you to come and claim them.

 

[tomtnt]

I think dance would be great with a gymnastics tumbling background. It seems like all dancers these days need to have some acro abilities (at least if you watch So you think you can dance!)

 

[lilgymmie7]

All three of my kids have only done one sport at a time. My 12 yo DS does wrestle and play football, but they have separate seasons. My two DDs only did gym. At one point older DD tried everything, but begged to only do gym. She now is focusing on drama. Wish me luck- she wants to move to Los Angeles for college next year. I don't want her to go that far!
Younger DD, 6 yo, only does gym. She from time to time expresses interest in soccer, but then she realizes she doesn't have time for friends with only gym. Adding another sport to our families already crazy schedule would be lethal. I am not one for over booking them. DD does gym for days a week, and she plays and spends time with the family on the other days. DS also practices 4 days a week with a game every Sunday. When wrestling starts in Novemeber, we will be up at the crack of dawn. Remind me again, why this happens? Oh yeah-"To keep the kiddies happy!"

 

[Panda-girl's Mom]

Netty I can so relate to your post. My husband is the same way with daughters gymnastics. He basically thinks it is a stupid sport where she swings on bars. He has only been to maybe 3 meets. He did go to her state meet last year after she came back from an injury. The thing is he wants her to do cheerleading which I do not feel is as safe as gymnastics. He thinks he can watch the football games while she cheers then I try to explain to him cheerleading now is all about competitions He is not the one driving back and forth to gym and the meets. I actually do have a second job which helps pay for it but it is expensive and daughter is not even an optional yet. I think they do get alot out of gymnastics even if it does not take them anywhere. If your daughter really wants to still do it I would try to keep her in it. My daughter does have mixed feeling this year so I am not sure what she will do in the future but I am encouraging her to try to do other things outside of meet season. At the same time I am trying to encourage her to stick with it which is not easy when her dad is telling her to give it up.

 

[cher062]

Thanks for all the responses. It's good to hear from your experiences.

I often hear from other non-gym parents who make comments such as "she's missing out on her childhood"... When asked what their kids do with the spare time, the answer is often TV or "hanging out" - which is pretty much what I did as a kid with all the free time I had. If that is the case, I don't mind her missing out on that...

I hear that "missing out on childhood" too but honestly what does that mean really. She is doing something she loves and enjoys, she has other friends outside the gym granted she doesn't get to as many B-day parties as some of her friends but she does go. I look at some of her non gym friends and they are just as busy but with a laundry list of activities instead of focusing on one. I would rather one or two activities she does well instead of 12 she really doesn't care about and puts no effort in.

Ones Childhood is open to interpretation. I say if your child is happy doing the things they love to do, have friends, and are enjoying life then what are they missing? Nothing at all.

 

[bogwoppit]

Missing out on watching tv and mall crawling! Is that childhood? Better busy in the gym than looking for trouble at home!

 

[emorymom]

To be fair to swimming, there are some very successful clubs that do not lay on the hours until puberty.

 

[LizzieLac]

To be fair to swimming, there are some very successful clubs that do not lay on the hours until puberty.

Don't get me wrong - I loved our club! The age group coach (7-12 yr old) was super. And I do think the hours required at this age/level were reasonable. However, I do think that as you advance and become competitive in your age group (particularly at 13 and up and in some cases even by 10 or 11), it can be just as intense as gymnastics.

But you are right, it depends on the club and what division they compete in. Ours only swam in state sanctioned meets, then zones for qualifiers, etc. and it was just about a year-round program. But there are clubs that only swim the winter months, so only duel meets (as opposed to all invitationals). This could be a good option as an additional sport or alternative sport.

I stick by assessment, however, of the spectator expperience. Many if not most pools are unbelievably hot with less than adequate seating. I loved watching the meets, and even I felt like it was occasionally akin to torture having to be stuck in a hot pool often standing the whole time because there were no seats!

 

[MyBoysFlip]

Wrestling starts in two weeks! So we will do one training team practice, two wrestling practices, and little one says he's doing a Saturday AM makeup practice. WE also do piano lessons. Our goal this year is to have put on enough weight so they have other kids to wrestle instead of each other! Gymnastics has made them so strong that we are expecting to see lots of improvement in wrestling! FYI - I have one DS who is a wrestler/bball player/gymnast (in that order) and the other is a gymnast who wrestles (his words, not mine!) It's busy and I feel like we live in the car & I sit inside gyms every night - but it makes them happy!

 

[gymgurl]

Well for me gym is a full time thing but not because of the hours more because of the school work as i am going into year 11 (junior year i think) and for us its an important year) and everything else i want to do is on the same days as gym...huff. because netball has saturday games during gym but i do play flute