Monday, September 01, 2008

Freedom or Enabling?

Okay, so I know I said I was cool with the quitting of gymnastics thing. And I am. Mostly. Okay, I'm having second thoughts. I do think she should quit this team. I think the main problem is incompatible coaching. Before she got to team, she loved being at the gym just as much as she could possibly be. She doesn't think she's having to work too hard. She still loves doing the gymnastics.

I was/am okay with the quitting because it's expensive, really. I'd just as soon see her do a less expensive sport. But, I think I'm letting that color my view of this decision. I wish we'd acted on it sooner, but really, I think she should be at another gym. Yikes. Like I want to start over. What if it isn't just the coaches and we invest so much more time and money into it?

I'm thinking that I'm enabling her quitting rather than giving her the freedom to choose for herself. Sometimes it's better to find a solution instead of just quitting. I guess I need to talk to Anthony about this and figure it out.

Maybe I'll talk to the gym and see if she can just go to rec on the tuition we've already paid to keep up her skills and also go ahead and do the Do Jump class. Then, after the next three months, she can decide which she wants to do in the long term - Do Jump or gymnastics. We can go to another gym for team. She could still enjoy it with the right coach. Or a more right coach.

Or maybe I should be encouraging exploration of other sports and letting gymnastics go. I don't think I'm holding onto it for me, though. 'Cause, really, less expensive would be great. I just don't want her to regret quitting later and wonder, "What could have been? I loved it so much."

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