Tuesday, October 13, 2009

The kid's decision

Wow! Danny has been contemplating this one for a while...but I did not think he would really do it. He has finally decided to not do competitive gymnastics anymore. It has been such a big part of his life for sooooo long. He started doing gymnastics in kindergarten and he is now in 5th grade. It seems to have taken over his (and our) whole lives.

Last year, as a level 5 he was going to the gym 7 hours a week. This year, as a level 6 he is now going 12 hours a week. It is an enormous amount of time for a 10 yr old to dedicate to anything. He has missed so much over the past 3 1/2 years, since he has been on the junior Olympic team. He is tired of life passing him by, even though he loves gymnastics.

Danny has finally decided to take a break and maybe try something else. Maybe even a few other things. and it will still take up less time, and probably the same about of money. Swimming, soccer, fencing...who knows? We will have to find something to keep him in the great shape he is currently in, and also find something to help him use up some of his extra energy that he will not be using at the gym.

Last night after the decision was made to not go to class, he seemed like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders that had maybe been there for waaaay too long. I'm sorry that we did not notice that it was that bad sooner. Hopefully his mood swings will not be as frequent or as bad as they have been lately. I'm hoping for a new kid to be coming home from school today.

I'm proud of Danny for making such an important decision.

2 comments:

  1. Wow! That is great. Good for him. It had to be his choice even if you had realized it long before him. cool!

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  2. now we need to see where life leads him...maybe he'll still do gymnastics in HS, it's not as time consuming there.

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