Cool and I decided September 24 that Sweet was going to change gymnastic clubs. There are many reasons we forced this change. In the end it boiled down to Sokol was a good place to start but if her skills were going to improve she needs more training. She has moved from 4.5 hours of training per week to 14.5 hours of training. Yesterday was the two week anniversary of our change. I asked Sweet the pro's and con's of moving. The pros were more practice time, nice coaches, and she is getting better in her skills. The cons were she left her old coach, she left Sokol and she was having to re-learn her routines. There were MANY text errors in her routines. I am not sure what the difference is between the routines Sokol uses and the routines USAG uses but having to re-learn the routines is very difficult. Three years of doing something the same way is hard to change.
I also resigned my position as Editor and Women's Director at Sokol on September 24. I just couldn't take the pressure. Parents were texting and calling my personal phone with comments, concerns and questions about Sokol all the time. One set of parents on that particular evening sent a rather nasty text and that was all I could handle. I called the President of our unit and resigned effective immediately. I have since agreed to stay on as Women's Director until the end of the year.
Sweet's coach from Sokol also resigned during this time of transition. That put a wrench into the everyday happenings at Sokol. We had to rearrange her classes for the rest of the session. Because of that change we have lost one of the gymnasts to another club and rumor has it 2 more are leaving at the end of the year. I understand all sides and have been scrambling trying to hire coaches. It isn't going so well. Thank goodness I only have to do this till the end of the year.
Dill has been on a respite from Tae Kwon Do since summer and this month we put him back in it. He goes Tuesday and Thursday. Chip accompanies him on Tuesday and Sweet on Thursday. I was working out on Thursday and noticed the class looked different and the usual Master was not teaching. I asked the lady at the front desk and found out he quit, opened his own Dojo and took most of the class with him. We are not sure about this. We will have to see how it goes.
All three picklets have been taking an Intro to Parkour class. It is a twist on gymnastics that they all love.
We looked at our calendar and realized that we are scheduled so heavily that we only have 1 full day at home every other week. We knew we couldn't have that. So we called a family council and asked the kids what activity they would be willing to give up. Their Czech Folk Dance Group kept coming up. They told us they felt uncomfortable singing with kids half their age while the other kids their age all play instruments. We understood and have resigned them from that activity.
That brings us to this moment. Our new schedule follows.
- Monday: Sweet gymnastics at new club, Chip gymnastics at Sokol
- Tuesday: I work at Sokol, Sweet homeschool gymnastics, Sweet gymnastics at new club, Dill and Chip Tae Kwon Do
- Wednesday: I work at Sokol, Intro to Parkour, Open Gym
- Thursday: Chip CAP, Dill and Sweet Tae Kwon Do, this is usually the day we mow at Gagas
- Friday: Chip and Sweet gymnastics at new club
- Saturday: Chip and Sweet teach at Sokol, Sweet gymnastics at new club, Cool cooks supper
- Sunday: The picklets and I get to stay home all day!
Having to be out of the house so much has made it so that we have to have a strict schedule. There is no way around it. Unfortunately, I am not a schedule person and this has been HARD for me. Very hard.
It is getting easier though. The kids know that chores need to be done by 9:00. School starts at 9:15 and lunch is at 11:30. They know some days we leave the house at 11:45, others at 1:30 and others at 3:00.
It is a juggling act. Some days we fall down. But we have get back up and dust ourselves off. We know that in the future the picklets interests will change and then we will have to re-evaluate things. Until then, this is our life. And it is a good life indeed.
(c) 2008-2010 Wicked Pickles-Homefront Lines
No comments:
Post a Comment