quote:
I don't believe parents should force kids in to doing something they have no interest just because it was the parent's dream. I see it now with gymnastics and cheerleading in my area. Competitive cheerleading has been huge in this area for over 2 decades, and you see mothers already putting their 5 and 6 year olds on competitive teams. That's entirely too early, and the ones who start at a high level of competition very young usually burn out by high school.

Yes, I have my kids in gymnastics, but it's for fun, great exercise for them, and they WANT to be in it. I have no plans to let them do anything really competitive (even if they want to) until they're at least in middle school. Before then, all I really ask is that they have fun with it and progress.

Absolutely. I grew up loving soccer and played club soccer for several years. It broke my heart when neither of my kids liked it, but I never forced them to play. Son likes basketball, and daughter is more of a free spirit into the arts. She did have a friend convince her to do cheerleading last year and she loved it. But watching her it's clear she doesn't have the athletic ability to be a cheerleader long term. But yeah, there were a couple of the cheerleading moms that frightened the crap out of me. These were 6 year olds, mind you.