Comments on: Parents’ Worst Nightmare #453: What if your child is a World Class Athlete?

By: cellobella

cellobella — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 04:32:43 +0000

And I thought I was missing out - given our genes our kids are unlikely to be Olympic athletes - 5am starts? Nup. Not unless I’m getting paid.

By: Stacy

Stacy — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 02:22:51 +0000

Sorry if this is a dupe but I got an error with my first attempt. I will try to recreate…

Good food for thought, and timely for us. My oldest son is 4 1/2 and has been freakishly coordinated and all wiry-muscle from about the age of one. My dad is always going on about how he is a natural athlete but I have a lot of trepidation about team sports and competition and all that, especially because he is still so young.

However, my husband and I are still talking about ways to expose him to the sports or activities he might be interested in. He goes to circus class, which he absolutely loves. It’s like gymnastics PLUS the trapeze, trampoline, and rope swing. He also likes golf and hockey and we’re trying to find ways to get him involved in those this year or maybe next. I’m sure his 18 month little brother will be right behind him!

By: Relax Max

Relax Max — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 17:26:28 +0000

Not trying to stalk you or anything, but we miss you. We need you. Don’t just tease us and desert us.

Nice post. I read every single word. (I really did). And I’m impressed. What a neat family.

Do come back. Bring P.J. for protection, but come back.

By: julymom

julymom — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 14:54:24 +0000

Wow. Good for her though. When I was in High School, we had a girl who came to school late every day because she had swim at 5am. She’d been doing this since she was 8. She went to the US Air Force Academy on a swim scholarship. I don’t know how she did it.
My ds is 5 and is amazingly strong. He’s super skinny, but he’s all muscle. He too is like a little monkey on the playground. He has absolutely no interest in playing sports though. Sometimes I wish he did just to run off some of the energy, but then again, I’m kind of relieved. I don’t want to get up early on Sat mornings and schlep myself bleary eyed to watch a bunch of other little kids that I don’t care about run around.

By: Babyamore (Trish)

Babyamore (Trish) — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 00:15:26 +0000

Ella does sound like she has the right gear to be an exceptional athlete.
Very interesting thoughts you have raised … while I hope my young sons excel at whatever they do I hope it isn’t swimming.
We did try a few squad sessions with our eldest but he was just not interested (not exceptionally talented either but just good enough to be the best in his school age bracket).
It was so hard getting him up at 5.30am let alone myself.

By: Rita

Rita — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 14:18:00 +0000

[quote]We may have had some system where the bride and groom agreed beforehand on who would get to keep the family heirloom convict ball and chain…[/quote] Thanks a lot, now I have coffee spray all over my monitor. That was fucking hilarious.

As far as the rest–I feel your pain. I have a (just barely) 9 year-old first degree black belt for a daughter. She’s currently leading in points towards state champ in sparring, traditional weapons, traditional forms, extreme weapons and extreme forms. Yeah, EXTREME. If she gets the title, we have to fork out $250 for a custom uniform that says STATE CHAMP ‘08 and her name on it. If she gets the title next year, it’s another $250. Next year (because now she’s a black belt, the ‘08 stuff was for color belt), she may get on the demo team, or compete for National points, which means we have to go places, like Las Vegas and Orlando and Little Rock, which is big $$$$$.

So, we’re not looking at the 5 am shit, but we’re looking at big travel expenses and equipment expenses and all that. I wouldn’t do the 5 am. I have no idea if my kids excel at swimming because I wouldn’t do it for them. I also quit ice skating (thus nixing the ever-popular hockey) because it was just cruel and unusual punishment to be going inside a building from -5(F) outside and it being just hovering around 2(F) inside, where you stand watching your breath freeze inches in front of your face for an hour, then going back out to the -2(F) to walk to your car. Parents who do that deserve some sort of crown, or straight jacket, I’m not sure which.

It sounds like your daughter is quite the athlete. I can relate to that, and the “bicep pride.” I’ve actually taken pictures of my daughter’s biceps (these are from about a year ago). Yes, that is a Disney Princess nightgown, too, because even though she can kick your ass, she has a sense for fashion:

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e318/Ritadear/IMG_0023.jpg

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e318/Ritadear/IMG_0022.jpg

So, encourage her to excel in sports, but just in sports you’re willing to sacrifice for. No 5 am practices or sitting in a goddamn freezer.