Parents Who goes to the meets?

[mommyof1]

The "getting along with other parents" thread has got me wondering--in your area or at your gym, how much of the family typically attends the meets? Does it change as you go up the levels? On my daughter's L3 team, the trend seems to bring the entire family including both parents, siblings not old enough to be left at home alone, and often grandparents. Tinker Bell's dad and I both attend, but we have decided not to torture the grandparents by inviting them. They already put in their time at the annual piano recital.

 

[cbifoja]

My DD is an only child and an only grandchild for four sets of grandparents.

Mom...always goes. No matter what.
Dad....goes if it isn't too far away.
GP#1.....always goes. No matter what. They dote on her at an embarrassing level.
GP#2.....one meet a season, sometimes two.
GP#3......only goes if it is in state (rare at DD's level)
GP#4.....probably has no idea that she does gymnastics.

No siblings to worry about.

 

[cadybearsmommy]

Usually it's just me and hubby and 7 year old DS (although he doesn't have much choice lol). I would love to have a lot of family come and support dd, but both of my parents are passed and the rest of our family can barely be bothered to see the kids, let alone come to their events. I wish all of the time that my kids had grandparents who wanted to be more actively involved with them. But that's a whole different story lol. I can guarantee that when my time comes to have grandkids that I will make every single meet, game, recital, etc (depending on what they are involved in) that I possibly can.

 

[gymgal]

I typically am the only one that goes b/c we have 2 other kids in sports and we usually have to divide to conquer. Dh tries to make at least 1 each season bit as dd has gone up the levels, having any family members beyond me at the meets makes her too nervous, like she had to perform for them.grandparents have gone to a few throughout the years. Brothers hate going to them. Too long/boring for them

 

[Ali'sMom]

For three years, only my mom and I have gone. DD is too nervous to even have DH there. (one meet, the out of state grandma was here, and came. First time ever she fell off the bars...)
This year, DH is "allowed". But now half of them are travel meets, so it might be just DH and me, not my mom for those.

 

[NutterButter]

Me, DH and a very, very bored DS go. Increasingly though bored DS has his own sport thing so we divide and conquer along, you guessed it, gender lines. ALL of DD's teammates have siblings in other sports and most of the siblings are brothers so it's usually the moms who go to the meets and dad goes to hockey, basketball, swimming, etc. Dads come when they can though. As do other siblings.

To the OP - L3 are usually pretty young so it makes sense that there's more of the full family turning out for meets. Especially if the L3 is the oldest in her family.

 

[vbdb]

My husband and I and our 7 yo DD go to meets. Occasionally our 3 yo DS comes but he's not usually very civilized so we leave him with the grandparents if possible. Once in a while one of my parents will come to a meet if it isn't far from them, the other one stays back to hang out with DS. DH's mom doesn't drive so she watches the recorded meet when we see her.

 

[Taurus]

Divide and conquer here too/ DH & boy at golf tourneys- the GPs come, boy and it kills me too, bc they never came when I was doing my sport.. but wouldn't dare miss one of the grandkids' events!!! they even sat through a 3 hr practice!

 

[sce]

If possible, Dh and I and the non competing sibling attend. Sometimes there are schedule conflicts then only one parent attends. My Mom comes to town to see at least one meet per kid per season. She loves supporting them and definitely does not see attending a gym meet - even level 3 - as torture.

Sometimes friends come to cheer them on as well.

 

[BPD304]

Divide and conquer here. My DH is fire fighter so if he is not on shift he will typically be doing the hockey game with my DS. If no hockey is going on we split up the meets ( I have a L3 and L4) he will come late to watch and stay through awards while I take the second DD to checkin and start.

 

[Rockygym]

It is usually a family event for us, especially the bigger meets Husband, grandparents, aunts. My kids only have 1 other cousin on each side, so we are small, and I like that they have all taken an interest in her events. We will likely be in the divide and conquer mode next year as DS will try out for the boys team this upcoming spring.

 

[MILgymFAM]

In the past two seasons, it was usually me and the non-competing sister to go. My DH is a toss up due to work. He goes when he is free but doesn't really enjoy meets at all. Honestly, he thinks they're boring and he's far too competitive so his disappointment shows too easily if my DD doesn't do well, which is fairly common.

 

[mom2newgymnast]

This past season it was usually me, my DH and my younger son (11). My 14 year old tended to stay home or have other plans. My MIL came to 1/2 the meets and my parents, my sister and her family and my bil and his family each came to 1 meet, although different ones for each. I honestly would prefer it was just me.

 

[ZJsMom]

For DS, his father and I usually both go. Older sister who is a senior this year has reduced her attendance and will go to maybe 1 or 2 meets a year. I do think as the kids go up the levels, the novelty wears off and attendance goes down. Some of his teammates will drive themselves or get a ride and not have a parent at some of the smaller meets.

 

[profmom]

DH and I go together when we can. DD usually has some grandparents at our hosted meet. If there's too much going on with DS the eldest (who is not a gymnast) or an overnighter would create problems for the non-competing gymnast to get to practice, we divide and conquer. I'd say I probably do around 60% of the solos and almost always take the trips that involve doing hair on site.

DS the eldest dutifully attends at least one meet for each sib per year, but he's pretty observant and knowledgeable. He was closer on DS's pommel score at states than I was, lol!

 

[duyetanh]

It depends where and when the meets are. Grandparents tend to try for a meet a season if they can. I am alone when dh has to work. Otherwise it's the two of us.

 

[leotardmakermum]

My daughter goes in hardly any competitions, so when she does we want to see her! If it is at all possible, both my husband and I attend. If we can find somewhere to outsource the older daughter for the day, we do, as she finds the comps a bit tiresome. . If the comps are close by, then my mum really likes to come. And they recently came to an interstate comp at my mother's insistence. (Dad didn't really want to go, I think). When I dropped them home at the end, my father did say how good it had been to see how she was going, and where she was heading, as we also watched some of the older girls compete. I think it helped him to understand what this passion is all about for her.

 

[skschlag]

We all go to 1-2 a year (me, dh, older sibling.) The rest of the time, one parent goes. Grandparents attend 1 per year. HE is a level 9, so video and reports suffice.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

L2/L3/L4 so far

Parents, sometimes we both go, sometimes just one of us, depends on work schedule and commitments
Brother, 21 yrs old. Maybe one meet a year, at least every other year.
Grandparents- Grandma maybe one a year. The grandfathers, one meet every other year.
Various cousins, aunts and uncles, friends of parents, may catch a meet depends on location and their schedules. Usually all of them manage one a year, usually not all the same meet. My brother and sister, are good for at least one each year, if not more.

I do post her routines on FB so those who want to see can, anyone else can scroll on by.

 

[kayjaybe]

I always go.
Dh goes if local (within an hour drive)
Little sis usually comes if dh is there
My sis and her hubby catch 1-2 meets/year
My parents catch 1-2 meets/year
Dh's parents have not caught a meet, but they are a plane ride away during meet season.

This year will be different though because little sis now has a sport with tournaments the same time. I'm going to do my best to attend both, but ydd knows that odd's meets take priority because this is her "prime" season and ydd's "secondary" season. But I'm really hoping it will be rare I have to miss either. I'm sure that is overly-optimistic, but I'm going with it for now. ;-)