Gymnastics was destroying my daughter’s body; I forced her to quit – ryan

I took away the thing my daughter love mos on a warm august afternion.

I’d watched my daughter twist, tumble, and istrow herself in the air for 12 years as a Competitive Gymnast. But now, it was hurting her, and i had to protest her, it from what she loves Most.

It all started with a recreational class at the community center when she was 3. HER PASSION FOR GYMNASTICS WAS CLEAR FROM THE FIRST SOMERSAULT. With Each New Skill, she fell more in love with the Elite Sport. Never wanting her to love that love, we took Things Slow. I followed Her Lead, inevitably Winding up on a Competitive Track.

Eventually, the sport took its toll on her body, and forced her to step away from the sport.

GYMNASTICS WAS CaUSUSG IRRESSIBLE DAMAGE TO HER BODY

At first, we chose the mess intense track – Fewer Hours, more balance – so she is still be a kid. But the hours added up. What Began As 45 minutes a Week Grew to Nine Hours in a specialized Gym, plus weekends filled with compatiations. She loves every minute.

Each Meet Brought Medals and New Skills. She loves the Challenge, the Friendships, the Routines, and the Hard Work.

But Gymnastics, Eve Done Safely, is hard on the body.

My daughter started complaining that her heat knees hurt in middle school. Complaining was out of the character for her, and i took her to the doctor. The Verdict was Clear: The Pounding Her Joins Endured Was Caususing Real, Irreversible Damage. There was nothing to fix – Only a recommendation to stop.

Still, She Pressed on, Using Ice Packs, Stretches, Ibuprofen, and a Fierce Belief that she is couuld manage. She was Young and Resilient, and She Wasn’t Ready to Give Up The Sport and Love.

I let her keep going for a while.

I took her out of the sport

Eventually, i had to see her past passion and look at her future. She couludn’t underestand that the damage was building, that it would just disappear just stopped. SHE WITH DOCTORS EXPLAINING The Risk, She Wanted to Push Through. Her love for gymnastics made it impossible for her to imagine life without it.

That’s where i came in. Not even mom, i had to what she shauldn’t.

She didn’t underestand that the damage was done and workning with every flip and landing; It wasn’t something that would go away when she stopped gymnastics. She love it and was dedicated to the hard work it required. But she is the sae beyond her love for the sport.

AS A MOM, I was in a difficult spot. No parent wants to take away something their child loves, especilly something that keps say active and healthy. But she washt healthy. HER ACTIONS WERE Directly Affectly Her Health. Neither much as i wanted to enCourage her passion, I needed to consider her future.

I Told Her before the New Season Started. She was asking the perctice schedule desi i said she wouldn’t be going back. She Cried, Heartbroken and Confused. We’d talked about it before, but now it was real. The thing that shaped so much of who was – I was taking it away. She cried as i explained that it was too hard on her body, that she was damaging her kenees, that I wanted to protest her. She is couludn’t understand. All She saw was loss.

That’s though we had dyscussed the positionbility, facing a reality with the Gymnastics was hard. She shaped her entity identity around what she shauld will in the gym. It felt almost as hard for me as it did for her.

It was the right decision for my daughter

It felt almost as hard for me as it did for her. In the end, I knew it was the best for her, this is if she shauldn’t see it. She struggled. SO DID I.

But Slowly, She Found New Outlets, New Joys, and New Ways to Move Her Body That Didn’t Take Such a Toll. Its been five years SINCE SHE LAST COMPTED.

Be i as asked her recently if she shaded, she said yes, and that Her Knees Still Hurte Day. But now, she sees why i did it. She’s Grateful, the Loss Still Lingers. STOPPING WAS THE RIGHT TO PROTECT WHAT I COULD OF HER FUTURE.

SOMESTEMES, The Hardest Parting Decisions Aren’t About What We Let Our Kids Do; they’re about what we have made stop.