All-Star Mommy Dearest...

[newcheerdad]

We generally don't stay for the team practices, but I will stay for a private or group tumbling class sometimes. I will say that by and large, the parents watching practice are pretty good about not engaging in gossip and are positive about the kids in the program.

 

[kelbulik]

As a coach, I'm always surprised to hear parents talking about the coaches! Sitting there "armchair" coaching (who should fly, formation ideas, critiquing technique) as I'm right next to them. Last week I even composed a joke email that I sent to my owners that we should send to all the parents that think they can do a better job! LOL

im sure some parents can surely be rude. we ve been on 3 diff teams and have seen this. the one we r on now, SE, has a great parent group, believe it or not, we have seen no drama this yr between kids or parents. we are truly lucky.

 

[crazycheermom]

That's why I picked this user name, a sarcastic reference to those "crazy" cheer moms. I don't mean the generally over the top ones, but somehow my daughter ended up with a group with some truely disfunctional people! I have always told people that if you ever see a story in the paper that says, "cheerleader mom kills other cheerleader mom" I could probably tell you who was dead and who did the killing! Last week I was in the parking lot waiting for my daughter to finish practice. I noticed a sign on the door that said practice was closed to parents. Fine by me. THEN I saw a mom march right in, opening the door that had the sign on it. Guess she didn't realize they were talking to her.

 

[wcsstilldeath]

my coach just hung up a magazine article in the lobby of my gym. Its about the 10 types of cheer moms and most are negative. In my opinion its alittle bit rude. The moms that are up in the gym for the most part are the positive helpers and team moms so thats insulting to them. The rest dont even come up so when would they ever read the article. I just think my coach could have addressed the subject in a different matter.

 

[Markiesgirl]

Was it this article?
http://cheerbiznews.com/uncategorized/parents-101-the-original-top-10/

 

[PullandPray23]

lol with my parents its always just been ok Ill sign the check and you go have fun

 

[mom1230]

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.

Thanks! I feel the same way - sometimes the people ranting on this board about how awful the "moms" are is a bit misplaced. The "moms" need to be respectful of the athletes and coaches and not say mean things - no argurment there - but the coaches need to be respectful of the parents who are sacrifcing money and time to support their child's desire to cheer. With an hour or more drive each way it isdifficult to find somewhere to go during every 2-3 hour practice - also never know for sure when it will be let out so need to be there. Parents spend a LOT of time at cheer - at the gym, competitions, and traveling. To the extent they can talk to each other, it passes the time - and when they become friends with the other parents (or even the coaches), the entire experience is better. When people on this forum make it sound like parents should sit quietly and not look out the window to watch - - I wonder is that like putting them in time out? Should parents sit for 3 hours with their faces to the wall? Let's be respectful to the parents too and appreciate that they might enjoy not sitting in silence and being able to watch to pass the time.

 

[powerXbaby]

Ugh moms are the worst. It got so bad at my gym a few years ago that we had one of the moms try to run a practice to see if she could do it better. We were in the gym the whole time to make sure everyone was safe, but if she thought she knew so much, we let her try it. She didn't open her mouth again.

I had an English teacher that did that to me in high school because I always corrected her. She told me to get up and teach the class. So I did. At the end of the class, she told me to leave her classroom and never come back. I switched to a teacher who let me sleep in english so I wouldn't join discussions. Needless to say, that may not always work.

 

[powerXbaby]

My mom always avoided cheer practices if possible. She'd rather go sit in the car for 2 hours, and if it was too hot, she would sit on her laptop and ignore everyone haha. Then I started driving, and she stopped coming to cheer practices except every once in a while when we hadn't had a competition lately or my tumbling and mental block were behaving. When I filled in from october-december in 2010, she didn't come to one practice. She really didn't want to deal with those moms haha.

 

[lifeoftheparty]

All the practices at my CP's gym are closed from Day 1. I competely agree.

 

[hopskipandjump]

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.

I love the parents at my gym too! In the minority here I guess. But it is probably because our gym is so small they can't come in and we have no windows to watch; so our practices are closed! And there are times I want parents in the gym waiting room since I coach a Mini team. I can just fling open the door and say "Ms. So and So, could you come in her and watch your daughter practice?" The daughter then generally shapes up. I don't use it often, but it has made a difference for the children to know that Momma is just outside the door!

 

[Pa Cheer mom]

My daughter has been cheering for 11 years I have always watched her practice. I love to watch her have fun and gain new skills but most of all I love to have my cheer mom friends. I usually get so caught up in conversation that I miss alot of whats going on even with my own child. It is great to have these friends it makes practice and competitions much more fun. Well this year we have a new group of moms that are about to make me lose my mind. We have one stalker mom who is at the gym every day of the week ( poor girl doesnt get a break). Then a group of moms who think they know everything about cheer and tumbling ( sorry I didnt know being a rec coach made you an expert in all star!! ) They sit there and criticize everything the coaches do, everything the cheerleaders do. I have never seen a group of parents watch a practice so intentally, picking apart evey detail. If the one girls mom is having a bad day that mom stands up to watch ( I guess she knows, if mom is standing that is not good) telling her what to do and doing the motions with her.. I could go on and on....... so mad that these moms took away my fun. This has been the worst year for me, dealing with these CRAZY CHEER MOMS. These moms want their girls to be the star to be the best at everything....news flash moms...this is a team sport !!!! You want your kid to be a star, go into competitive gymnastics, where your kid is the only one on the mat!!!! oh yeah and this group of moms are the same ones who to the coaches face ...kiss their butt.....soooooo 2 faced ....soooo back stabbing.. If only the coaches knew this group is their friends because they are hoping with their phoney front to get their girls to be coaches favorites, flying, point flyer, in the front line for jumps and dance and so on.... I dont say anything because I don't want to seem like I am the trouble maker...so I just sit there and dream of the day that maybe they will go or I may go............

 

[OakleyXO89]

when i cheered all star in hs the parents werent the problem most of the time, it was the gym owners mcther that caused a majority of the drama and gossip. After so long it became ridiculous, My mom sort of had to come to practices just to make sure she wouldnt stir up drama about her kids, because she normally didnt talk poop about kids whose parents were there. Now my sister cheers for step one, and my mom does go to every practice but it's to socialize with the other moms not gossip. They talk about their lives, their other children, put together goodies for the athletes etc. Ive been to a couple of their parent bonding nights and they are all very positive and the staff is so nice and friendly. Theres another local gym that thinks they have drama with my sisters but the coaches encourage everyone not to respond to their negativity. It has got to be a nice change for her because she doesnt have to be around every night if she doesnt want to, due to the kind of enviroment the parents and coaches work together to create

 

[zonkadonk]

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!

haha the same thing happened the other day when I was coaching a practice...during practice a mom texted me from the lobby..i didnt have my phone until after practice but she said "my daughter is upset that her stunt keeps falling and says she is holding all the weight, will you please help them??" haha like i was unaware that her stunt was falling and trying to do nothing to help them...lol

 

[Kissmynfinities]

I LOVE MY CHEER MOMS they are super nice and normally drama free because they are all best friends in and outside of the gyms and they are super supportive of us