watching practices

Date: Thu Aug 31 2:05 PM, 2006

RE: watching practices

Date: Thu Aug 31 2:12 PM, 2006

Doesn't anyone ever get bored watching a 2 or 3 hour practice? I don't think I could last longer than 10 minutes.

Date: Thu Aug 31 2:20 PM, 2006

Funnier, I re-read your email and understand it as well. It's funny how easily folks can misinterpret a comment so easily. My apologies.

I watch my daughter all the time, I am actively involved in her life. Most times she is okay with it, some times I just bug her... but guess what she bugs me too. Therefore, we give each other space here and there. This is our relationship. She's a Junior and WE only have 2 more years before she's off to college, don't condemn us parents and kids who want to savior these last years.

Date: Thu Aug 31 2:21 PM, 2006

I'm sure you're sincere, Funnier, but when you yell (use caps) and seem so defensive, you trigger a negative response in others. Perhaps you need to re-read your posts before hitting the submit, if your original post was taken the wrong way. You told someone that if their blood rises they probably shouldn't be reading email, or something like that. Maybe you could take some of that advice as well?

This is a good debate. The pro's and con's to having web cams in gyms. People, in my opinion, need to keep an open mind to both points of view. Those in favor of web cams cannot deny there are risks involved with numerous people you normally would not see at the gym watching practices sitting in their chairs viewing your children from their computer, and we won't even get into hackers which is another danger nobody can deny exists. The pro's are obvious (who wouldn't want the opportunity to see how their child is doing). But it's good to see the negatives too in case gyms are debating whether or not they want to install such a system.

Date: Thu Aug 31 2:25 PM, 2006

Hell yeah it gets boring and quite irritated with the repetitions. However, there are other things you can do....

We watch, talk, get irritated by some parents, go for walks, jog, read, bring our laptops, take naps in our cars, some parents do their homework, run errands, go out to dinner, shop, sew, some make crafts, etc.

It's what you make of your time.

Date: Thu Aug 31 4:03 PM, 2006

Sorry about the caps. I don't know how to use the BOLD. I would use them instead.

Date: Thu Aug 31 4:05 PM, 2006

To Funnier. I totally agree with you I hope I didn't come on to strong. I am a involved parent and so is my husband. As we get older we get wiser and more protective of our children. I'm not with my teens and young adults all the time and I'm not over baring. I was the PTA president at my childrens school I was the team parent I'm also the one that used to sit through 2 to 3 hour practices not because I loved every minute of it , BUT BECAUSE MY CHILD WANTED ME TOO. So everyone has their opinion and they are entiltled to it. That's what makes life interesting. My eldest child is 21 and lives on his own. Do we still worry yes, but not as much as we used to. I probably came on to strong before but there are alot of things to worry about in this world today .

Date: Thu Aug 31 8:49 PM, 2006

Wow I was the one who brought up the "web cam" in the first place and after reading all this I have 2 questions ?

1. How many of you parents out there monitor your child when they are on My Space.

2. Have you ever dropped your child off at the mall before to hang out with there friends or to see a movie.

I'm glad our gym offers this service and I in no way think it is like Big Brother watching. That was a really stupid comment.

Date: Thu Aug 31 9:15 PM, 2006

Of course the parents who use a web cam to watch their son or daughter at practice are going to think it's the best thing since sliced bread, and won't see any issues at all with it. That's a no-brainer. Just know there are others out there who disagree and see some serious problems with it. Nobody's comments on either side are "stupid".

I would think a gym should poll all parents before installing a web cam to make sure nobody has any serious issues with it. I'm in the group who thinks it's too much, and I'm glad our gym doesn't have it.

Date: Thu Aug 31 10:06 PM, 2006

I am a mom who once upon a time was a cheerleader and coach. I happen to love the sport of cheerleading. Always have! I enjoy watching my daughter's practice (Not all of it, but some). I agree with one of the previous posts. Please don't over analyze parents who like to watch or put them down for it. Am I living vicariously thru my daughter, maybe a little, but don't we all on some level even a little.

I do the same for my son who plays baseball and my daughter who plays soccer! I work fulltime and want to spend as much time as I can watching my kids grow up and enjoy life that includes watching an occasional practice.

Now, I believe there should be some time allotted for watching once a week. This sport isn't like baseball, soccer etc. where there are games you can go to on a regular basis. The reality is there are only a small number of competitions in the season. The reality is the routines are under three minutes. This sport is one of the crazy ones where you sit around all day to watch your daughter or son for three minutes. It is a great fabulous minutes! Than I buy the DVD, so I can watch it again and again.

So, for all the crazy parents out there like me, we are not crazy! We just love watching our kids. We loved watching them when they took their first steps;we loved watching them run around on the playground; we loved watching their first swim lessons; we love watching them do their first backhandspring; we love watching them fly or base; we love watching them compete; we will love watching them graduate high school and college; we will love watching them with their children; and hopefully the cycle will continue for us as grandparents.

Date: Fri Sep 1 5:33 AM, 2006

What are the serious problems with it ? I have not heard 1 complaint from any of the parents at are gym . The web cam is situated in a position that unless you know where your child is in the routine their is no way you would be able to distinguish which child is yours since they all where the same practice outfit and the camera is in the farthest corner from the spring floors.

I enjoy watching the routine when I get the chance to. My child loves when I can stay to watch.

There is a live web cam at Gatorland . com go to that webcam and check it out . After you watch it for a little while come back here and tell me if you think its that intrusive to those people that you are watching. The camera is so far away and it only shows a frame every 2 to 3 seconds that it 's really kind of diffulcult to get a feel for the place. The park does inform it's visitor of the cameras.

You could also check out the live web cams at Snow summit and big bear to see the "snow action"

Date: Fri Sep 1 7:00 AM, 2006

To I'm A Crazy Parent, I agree. If parents want to watch their children, and the coaches and gyms are fine with it, no harm done! Someone made a point earlier (I think regarding the web cam subject) about how short their routines are, and not that many competitions, so watching practices makes up for some of that.

Cameras at theme parks and ski resorts are not the same as inside a gym (I've seen it used, and it's really not). If our gym had it, I'm sure I would watch it. But I do wonder how the coaches feel about it, haven't heard their point of view. I dunno, if I were an instructor I wouldn't want a camera on me the entire time, would you? I guess after a while they probably forget it's there. I could go either way on it; it wouldn't be a selling point to joining a gym that had one, but I wouldn't quit a gym that had one either.

I was curious about the mechanics of it, maybe someone could mention how it works. Someone posted that you have to log in (I figured that) but that you can only watch your child's practice, not other practices. So do they have a list of parents for each practice time shown? And then the list is checked when you log in? Or is it that a certain password is needed for each practice? That makes more sense to me (for security reasons, the password should be changed every six months or so, I would think).

Date: Fri Sep 1 9:57 AM, 2006

I'm wondering how it works too. Probably don't need to change the password though, they would know who is logging in by the name. I've had the same passwords for years for sites. I know it's getting off the subject, but I'm just interested in how it works too. I was wondering about the cost too; can it be done fairly cheap?

Date: Fri Sep 1 10:38 AM, 2006

Forgot to add. We were at a gym that had a web cam. It was great. When my tenager started driving and since we live 1/2 hour away from the gym. It gave me piece of mind to be able to tune in on the web cam when practice started just to see if he got there. I think its a great safety issue. Big Brother my a**. Banks have them markets , stores , high schools ,hotels (Las Vegas caisino's) . Freeways too. I could probably go on and on. I know most gyms that have them do have passwords and you have to be on a team to view. Yes I do from time to time mionitor my kids myspace and computer time. Maybe my kids are the excetpion but they don't seem to mind and I just glance at what there doing when they are on the computer so I'm not invading their space. I'm lucky I have a pretty close relationship with my teens. I always told them they can talk to us about anything. ( We don't pass judgement on them just offer advice if they ask for it).

Date: Fri Sep 1 11:50 AM, 2006

Trust, sounds like it worked out nicely for you. So you had to be on a team to view, but if you were on a team, could you log in and view whatever the webcam was showing at the time? In other words, could you see all the practices, even the teams your son was not on?

Date: Fri Sep 1 8:37 PM, 2006

I suppose you could then. That was 2 years ago. I was able to view his tumbling classes .I don't know about now.

cheergirl622 · GURU

My mom drives about 20 minutes to take me to practice twice a week plus an extra day for tumbling. I really don't like when she stays to watch and she only watched for the first couple practices/tumbling classes because she didn't know what else to do b/c she didnt want to drive home and back b/c practices are only 2 hours and tumbling is 1 hour. She makes me nervous when she watches and I feel like she's really criticizing me. I don't mind when other parents are there. Most of them are very nice and they just sit there and watch and don't say anything except a few words to another parent maybe.

Our gym has a "parent workout" for an hour every couple days which gives parents an option of something to do while they wait for their kids. But there is a monthly fee and my mom thinks it is too expensive so she just goes to the local gym during my 2-hour practices and she sits in the car and waits for my hour of tumbling. I kinda feel bad that she has to sit in the car for an hour b/c it seems kinda boring. She listens to the radio or talks on the phone with her friends and sometimes if we're in a hurry, she'll bring some of our dinner with her and eat in the car lol