Parents Working parents and gym hours

[barcrawler]

Hi, I'm new...to the forum and with a 6.5 yr old DD who is new to gymnastics. She started a rec class earlier this year and we quickly added a second class each week because she LOVES it. So now she goes twice a week and is happy.

She recently asked me about the team, (after seeing one of the preteams practicing wearing their pretty matching leotards). I told her that we could look into for the future, but I was generally noncommittal because I didn't want her to consider it if it is not possible for us.

I have some general info on how much being on the team costs, and the time commitment for each level (from our gym's website). My question is: how do you make it work when the 2 parents work full time regular business hours outside the home? My DD goes to after school care on the weekdays, but I could possibly arrange to come home early for those days she would need to be at the gym. But if the summer schedule included daytime practices, we would never be able to do those. How do you handle this?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

 

[MILgymFAM]

I know at our gym team girls go to full-day camp during the summer, except for a two week break. What do you normally do with the kids in the summer? Could a sitter take dd to gym?

 

[GymGirl's Mom]

At Dd's gym it is downright impossible to be a working parent and not have a nanny/babysitter who can drive your child to practice. Summer schedules are very difficult- often with the practice in the AM at weird hours like 9-1. Even during the year she is 4 week days a week and two of those are at 4 PM. Very hard. Something to think about.

 

[LizzieLac]

For years, we paid babysitters to drive the kids to their practices. I also work from home typically 1-2 days a week. Maybe you could get a flexible work arrangement to help on the days when she would practice.

We have also carpooled and that was a great help. Check and see if anyone from your town has a child going to that gym.

Good luck!

 

[twinmomma]

My friend has a daughter on team and she is a single mom with another child to parent as well. She has worked it out with her boss to take a late lunch on her daughter's gym days, pick her up and drop her off at the gym, go back to work, then go back to the gym to pick her daughter up.

We're lucky in that while we both work, my wife works a graveyard shift and I work days. When DD's schedule was 4:30-6:30, my wife would drop her off and I would then go to the gym and sit for the second hour of practice since the gym is right near my office and then take her home. Now, I literally go home, pick her up, turn around and get her to gym, which starts at 6pm.

During the summer, gym was 1-3pm. We could not make that work at the time, because we had never intended for her to jump from beginning rec to team in a month and a half, which was what happened. So we worked it out with the coach that she came to an evening class twice a week until the schedule changed back again.

 

[gracyomalley]

Our gym has many families with 2 working parents. Girls car pool to gym from school with the HC helping match them up by schools. We have had nannies, and grandparents/uncles help out - and I've altered my work schedule some - summer is 9-1, and if parents can't get the kids at lunch time then many go home with a friend until they can be picked up. DD was only 7 when she started this schedule, so we have worked into these arrangements, but it really can be done!

I will say that I take every Friday off during meet season because session times are announced too late for me to change my schedule....that takes up a lot of vacation time!

 

[kandkfunk]

It can be very tough for working parents. We've always had to rely on help. When my DD was younger, I found a babysitter that was willing to drive her to and from practice during the summer. Of course I had to pay extra. We've also relied on grandparents to help with transportation.

Now that she is older, I have to rely on other parents during the summer time. I'm very fortunate that we have such helpful parents at our gym. During the school year, I modify my work schedule two days per week to get her there on time. My husband is able to drive her the other two days. Thankfully, she'll be able to drive herself in a few short months. I'm looking forward to that since it's been a long twelve years of juggling schedules and looking for rides. It can definitely be challenging and you have to be willing to seek out help.

 

[my4buffaloes]

Carpools! Can't live without them.

 

[BachFlyer]

Wow we all sound a tad crazy, lol! i'm only half joking though...what other sport requires such a commitment from the whole family and extended family? i am also a single, working parent and i also have in the past 2 years finally been able to work out a flexible schedule with my employer where i take a long lunch to pick up DD (13) from school and drop off at gym, and work from home in the afternoons. For the 4 years prior someone else helped me, mostly our friends that went to the same school and gym. i am grateful for all of the support of family and friends - we wouldnt be here without them. now, i spend 2 hrs + a day in the car (half hour there and back x2). Gym is just part of our "normal" - dinners and homework in the car, up early on saturdays, working from wherevr i can find wifi in a pinch. DDs little sis (12) is along for the ride, and travels to all of the meets, so they both miss quite a number of school days during the meet season. it is harder now that my younger DD is getting involvd in school sports/clubs, because i get pulled in a million directions.

sure glad im not a stickler for a perfectly clean house!! lol

 

[billise]

I'm really fortunate to be, for all intents and purposes, a stay at home mom AND DH works from home with a great deal of flexibility so, for us, getting getting DD (age 7 level 3) to practice 3 days a week has not been a problem. Many of her teammates do carpools or enlist the help of relatives. I have helped transport kids from time to time as well but no one has approached me about doing it regularly.

Maybe there is a parent at your gym who is like me, having the availability and flexibility to help with transport and is willing to do it even if means giving them a couple of bucks for their time/gas?

 

[gymmiemom]

I was a SAHM for the last 11 years until DD's first year on team was complete. Then I got a part time job, after realizing how much money it really costs . Thankfully my husband works shift work so he is off on random days and we can usually make it work between the two of us. We also lucked out that this year she can ride a school bus directly to the gym after school so she only requires being picked up. But there are a couple of other moms in the gym that give her rides if she needs one and we give their kids rides when they need one. We all just help each other out.

In the summer time it is harder because they move to daytime hours. This summer we are planning on setting up a car pool with those other 2 moms I mentioned.

 

[emorymom]

A SAHM would be glad to do the drive to gym in the afternoon if you would bring home.
Depends on the gym. Some gyms switch practice to daytime & offer day camp every week school is out, so the team kids go their for childcare and just move over to their practice when it's time.
My son's gym would be very difficult for parents who don't have flexible hours or a nanny. There's not day camp, practice is during the day in the summer, and hours for practice do tend to shift around a bit. Sometimes I can't remember the schedule because as soon as I learn it, it shifts as they tweak hours to match staffing needs.
I'd say that's not the norm.

 

[wallinbl]

Our house has one stay at home parent, so we make that end work, but others in the gym do it with a combination of carpooling and paying babysitters/nannies to do the driving. I was surprised at first about paying someone to drive your child, but if you were paying for a babysitter/nanny anyway, it's the same cost plus gas money.

Given the necessary hours, the choices boil down to starting practice before 5 PM, holding practice until late at night, or running additional practices on the weekends. Having been at a place with late practices (until 9 PM), the earlier practices are better. Kids get more sleep, even if it's harder for their parents to make arrangements for getting them there.

 

[MaryA]

Our gym does have a day camp pretty much all summer, and they give a good discount to team kids, so many team kids end up staying all day... when they aren't at practice, they're at camp (mostly 11-and-under, though I have heard of the older girls staying to help with the day camp too). But truly, you can't do it without help. Carpool help and/or paid help and/or employer help (flexible scheduling) and/or family help (lucky to live near my mom... she helps SO much). It's definitely something to think about before you agree to anything about team or even pre-team. Once they're on that path, as long as they're still enjoying it, it can be hard to pull back.

 

[Midwestmommy]

This is the single most stressfull part about having a child in gymnastics for our family (and there is not a close second place). Pieced together, and sometimes it feels like it is hanging by a thread. Couldn't have done it without the help of some super kind SAHM fellow gym moms, paid sitters/drivers, the occasional friends and relatives. And coaches understanding that once in a while we are late. Those are frustrating days, because I can guarantee I went through massive amounts of headache, traffic, effort to get my kid there, and then she has to run stairs or do ropes because it all unravelled a little that day and we were ten minutes late. In general though the coaches seem to know who has to move mountains to get them there and are pretty understanding.... Oh, and you need to get them fed in between school and gym, so you just get used to packing lots of lunches/snacks/beverages..... Unless you live right by the gym, if you are a "no eating in the car" family, that will be the first thing to go....you will soon be an "always eating in the car" family.

 

[gwenmom]

I have a modified work schedule coming in early and leaving earlier than the rest of the office. Hopefully the move we were supposed to make closer to DH and my work and DD's gym actually happens this summer. Then we will be able to carpool with other team parents. Fingers crossed we are looking at a house Sunday morning.

 

[barcrawler]

Thank you all for your insights. They are very helpful.

I have 4 kiddos at home, and my gymnast is the youngest. DD and her elementary school aged brother usually go to full time day camp during the summer months.

I have an adult teenager who drives, and has a car, but she also works full time. No other family close.

My concern is that even if we were to be able to swing getting her to the gym during the day, I would still be paying FT day camp too for the other days/times.

A lot to think about! Thanks again.

 

[GymBee97]

one word - carpools!!

we also have family around my brother, my parents, and a few close friends can do the drop off. remember being on team usually means you aren't staying for the practices it just drop off an pick up you need. once you make team then team parent friends carpooling becomes easier. usually there are parents that can do the drop off and ones that can do the pick ups . I know a few days a week I might have as many as 3-4 other girls in the car to take home. they only live 2-3 streets away so it isn't out of the way. their parents will do the drop offs during the week or on the week ends.

 

[gymmutti]

Definitely check to see if the gym has a summer camp. That helped me out tremendously a few years ago when my DD's summer practice began at 1pm. I could drop her off at the gym in the morning before work and pick her up after. Carpools also were great when we started. Unfortunately, girls quit the sport and you may end up carpool-less, as I am now. Luckily in my current role, my manager lets me work in a very similar mode as Apache. I work from carpool lines, the gym, at home - often after the girls are in bed. I have absolutely no time for myself and my house and car are a mess, but we've managed to get to practice each day and I get my work done for my employer. I have noise-canceling headphones and use them a lot during the summer if I end up working from the gym (which has wireless) or a nearby Starbucks. My manager understands that I only make it into the office on rare occasions during the summer and I am either working from home or the gym - because I cannot get kids to a day camp and now that they are older, the gym's summer camp has lost any appeal.

 

[emorymom]

My concern is that even if we were to be able to swing getting her to the gym during the day, I would still be paying FT day camp too for the other days/times.

The team kids whose parents work generally will go to day camp at the gym 5 days a week.
Even as a SAHM, what gymnastics team (& for DD, swim team) is that we give up the opportunity for them to do interesting camps, for the benefit of being on the teams. I guess they could, but they'd miss a lot and they need time to just hang out at the pool.