All-Star Mommy Dearest...

[yougottabelieve]

at my old gym, they had a viewing room upstairs, but the windows were the ones where you can't see the people behind them, but they surely can see you. soo we had moms talking to us through the air vents... pretty interesting

 

[stateallstar_jesse]

parents are never not allowed at our gym as far as i know. we have two parent viewing rooms, one that is completely "covered" (not sure how to explain this one) basically a true little room with a wall that is all windows, looking out onto the floor. the other room is attached to the closed one and has a half wall the whole way around. moms stay in the rooms, and only come out to clean and sometimes do other things like organize or recently we decorated a flag with gemstones. most of our practices are combined, so my senior team practices with a youth team. when i was that age, i hated it when my mom left! even when i go to practices that are not my own i never hear parents talking badly about each other's children , thank goodness. they are all really supportive of the whole team. they do ask a lot about "what happened with x? why did y fall in that one stunt?" fortunately our coaches are really awesome and they make us all know that its not just one person's fault, its the whole group. we dont play the blame game!

 

[Hungry]

I had a mom and her daughter continuously talking to other parents/girls and then finally tell me that her daughter "does all the work" and "gets no help" so I turned to the girl and said, "You are NOT doing all the work and getting no help, because if you were, you would one-man your flyer...and I can guarantee you that you cannot do that, and until you can, I don't want to hear again that you are doing all the work"

Yes, a little harsh, but she's never said it again!

 

[cheermommaRN]

The parents that hang all over their kid and pressure them do nothing but drive their child out of the sport. My oldest loved cheer and since I was new to the sport I would harrass her after every practice "why aren't you doing x, y, z?" Or even worse "Susie is getting her back handspring...why can't you?" After a few years she ended up hating cheer and quit. Now she wants back in but only because she's seen how far I've backed off of her sister.

 

[keepdreamin]

I will never understand those "helicopter moms", always at practice, nagging their kids! I already feel the pressure from myself, my coaches, and my teammates, I cannot imagine what it's like to have a parent who adds to that pressure.

My mom did this so much. she was always pressuring me, then i got a mental block and she was putting so much stress on me to get my tumbling back. Then, i told her that she was half the reason I had the mental block. (because stress and pressure are reasons why many people get mental blocks) So, she finally stopped nagging me, i got my tumbling back, and now she barely says anything to me at practice, which is really good because i'm trying to focus.

 

[cheerbear2x]

When I was younger, on a youth team, my mom was SUPER supportive of me during breaks/ect. When I would come over to get a dollar for a drink, she would say "Your stunt looked really good" or "Your backtuck is so high today!". When I had a tumbling block, I didn't talk to my mom about it, and asked if she wouldn't watch my practices, tumbling classes, ect., but once I got my tumbling back, I never cared! If I ever had a problem with something or my mom noticed someones stunt not hitting, or I was busting my backtuck, we would wait until we got in the car to talk about it.
As far as other mom's at the gym go, I'm sure there is a lot of mama-drama, but I never really hear it.

 

[ohhh lindss]

This is exactly how my mom is, plus it leaves an element of surprise during competitions!

EXACTLY. That's exactly why my mom wouldn't come! She always wanted to see the new things we added each competition and the things we would change.

 

[cheeeeer93]

My parents never came into the gym unless it was for the last few minutes of practice to pick me up. They were never too pushy with anything which I loved. Now that I drive myself, the first thing they say when I come in the door is 'how was practice?'. They're involved enough but I don't tell them things like our new stunt sequence just to keep an element of surprise.
But I do have a HUUUGE opinion on mothers that do come into the gym haha. Don't get me wrong, coming in occasionally and being respectful is fine. But it's kind of creepy looking up and seeing the same mother staring down with their arms crossed and just looking scary. I don't see how it's helpful for a parent to be at practices or classes consistently? I would feel so pressured to do good or get a skill. Which is just a ton of stress and ultimately unsafe. Also, why do parents take pictures during practices?! How important is it to have memories of your child sweaty and just looking a mess? And everyone's favorite.. the gossip moms. I love how they don't consider who is sitting next to them. I find it hysterical when they go trash talking a child or even a coach and the person 3 feet away from them is the parent or friendly with the coach on a personal level. Think before you speak...

 

[omgitssydthekid]

My parents never came into the gym unless it was for the last few minutes of practice to pick me up. They were never too pushy with anything which I loved. Now that I drive myself, the first thing they say when I come in the door is 'how was practice?'. They're involved enough but I don't tell them things like our new stunt sequence just to keep an element of surprise.
But I do have a HUUUGE opinion on mothers that do come into the gym haha. Don't get me wrong, coming in occasionally and being respectful is fine. But it's kind of creepy looking up and seeing the same mother staring down with their arms crossed and just looking scary. I don't see how it's helpful for a parent to be at practices or classes consistently? I would feel so pressured to do good or get a skill. Which is just a ton of stress and ultimately unsafe. Also, why do parents take pictures during practices?! How important is it to have memories of your child sweaty and just looking a mess? And everyone's favorite.. the gossip moms. I love how they don't consider who is sitting next to them. I find it hysterical when they go trash talking a child or even a coach and the person 3 feet away from them is the parent or friendly with the coach on a personal level. Think before you speak...

My mom comes to every practice, flying class, open gym, tumbling class, and competition. I hate it when she misses even a tumbling class because want her to see how much I've improved and help me when I keep doing the same thing wrong every time (when workng independently at an open gym). I love having her there for support when I'm havng a bad day and at open gyms she will record stuff for me and my friends so we can see our tumbling, stunting, ect. My mom and I are very close and we both love cheer. But my mom tends to stay away from the "mom circle" at the gym because those moms just start drama and are nasty mean. My mom has found a few friends at the gym that are pretty down to earth and chill, and those are the ones she tends to stick with.

 

[MissCongeniality]

Let me speak for all the Moms (and Dads) who are stuck at the gym while their kids practice. It's an hour each way for us. For a two hour practice. We could leave and go shop but wait... our kids cheer so we have no money left!

What are we doing in there? Some are catching up on work. Some are reading. Some ARE talking but not ALWAYS about cheer. Sure that topic does come up, it is definitely something we all have in common since we are, after all, at a cheer gym. But, at least at our gym, the conversations are usually about diets and kids and relationships.

Have I run into some Mommy Dearests in the Cheer World? Yep! But guess I've been lucky because they've been the exception rather that the rule.

So next time you see that parent in the parent room give them the benefit of the doubt.

 

[omgitssydthekid]

Let me speak for all the Moms (and Dads) who are stuck at the gym while their kids practice. It's an hour each way for us. For a two hour practice. We could leave and go shop but wait... our kids cheer so we have no money left! :)

What are we doing in there? Some are catching up on work. Some are reading. Some ARE talking but not ALWAYS about cheer. Sure that topic does come up, it is definitely something we all have in common since we are, after all, at a cheer gym. But, at least at our gym, the conversations are usually about diets and kids and relationships.

Have I run into some Mommy Dearests in the Cheer World? Yep! But guess I've been lucky because they've been the exception rather that the rule.

So next time you see that parent in the parent room give them the benefit of the doubt.

That's how my mom is because we live an hour away too. She sometimes bring my laptop in and works or reads or chats with the other "non-mom circlers".

 

[nhgurlnh]

i coach 1 youth team, 1 junior team, and 1 senior team. when refering to parents being nastayy, the easiest to deal with is seniors. seniors can be nasty to each other, but usually you have kids on your team that just tell that mean girl to be quiet, or as a coach, i tell her that it is not ok to be rude. parents tend to be not as involved, not really watching at practices. usually, when i do hear about parent drama with the seniors, the kids just go and tell their mom to shut up if the kid hears about it.
junior moms are ALLL about level 5. when is my daughter gonna throw her full? well, ur daughter hasnt started throwing layouts, so probably not for a while. why isnt my daughter flying? your daughter is 5'7 in the 7th grade, shes not gonna fly. why isn't my daughter throwing triple toe tucks? your daughter can't throw just a triple toe, so, um, not for a while. i understand that they care a lot about their kids, but they gottttaaaaa chill. your level 2/3 daughters are not going to be trying out for senior elite anytime soon. (YES I HAVE HAD PARENTS THINK THAT THEY WOULD TAKE THERE DAUGHTER TO NORTH CAROLINE TO BE ON SENIOR ELITE, only 3 sets though, they were all gonna do it together)

youth parents, at least at my gym, don't really know what is going on, so they just are happy if we keep them in the know and there daughter is having fun!

this is my rant for the night....

 

[ChelleShocked]

I love the parents at my gym. We don't have a viewing room but since they all stay anyways, they sit in a separate room where you can't see/hear what's going on in practice. Then at the very end of practice they can come in and watch the routine or whichever part of it we worked on that day. I never hear any gossip or bad things being said about anybody; they all usually have things to do, and a lot of them keep busy by making banners, organizing fundraisers, etc.

 

[Markiesgirl]

I'm a mom who stays at the gym a lot during practices but only because we live over an hour away from the gym. I try to plan errands I can do while we're up there and there's only so much shopping I can stand. I have even gone to the movies alone to pass the time especially on longer practice days. We started carpooling when we can with another family so that helps a ton!
I know what moms to stay away from and it does seem to be the younger kids moms and those new to the sport that get themselves bent out of shape although there are exceptions to the rule. If I am there I try to watch netflix on my phone, text, or have a good visit with "safe and sane" cheer moms. There are a few around!
I had a mom I don't even know tell me a few weeks ago she was amazed at how my daughter could do the tumbling she does because she had the strangest BHS she had ever seen. I was like HUH? I had no idea she needed remedial BHS lessons. Darn those cheer coaches for not teaching her proper technique!! I am not sure how she got to be a level 4 tumbler without this mom's coaching! Then she starts watching every pass my kid does and made comments to me. Oh did you see that one...now that was a good one. Literally my mouth was hanging open. I was irritated but then I had to laugh it off because otherwise I'd of had to hurt the level 2 momma. Now another one to avoid in the viewing area.

 

[cheerKT]

My mom never came to the gym, and I loved it. I didn't want her around those crazy moms.

Oh and they started a policy a few seasons back that practices were only open the first week of every month. It wore off after a while but I still think it's a good policy.