Would you bring your 13 year old to the gym?
Replies
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Sounds like my ex. I run, my son (14) is athletic but my daughter (13) is not as much. My son and I did a race together, and I saw a text between my daughter and her father's wife that asked if she ran, too. When my daughter said "no" it was replied to with a "good girl". Um... what?
Thanks for the chuckle. Keep doing what you're doing! He "objects"... haha! :laugh:0 -
I don't have a daughter, but my 6 year old was pissed when he found out he couldn't work out with me when we had a gym membership. Last night he brought up a kettlebell and resistance band from the basement and did his own workout in our living room. Love that kid. I absolutely want him to learn to be active!0
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she loves going, gets mad when I leave her home. I think even sitting there watching me and others she gets something out of it. I people watch at the gym and learn new exercises all the time. if she is sitting out and sees something she is interested in she will point out out to me
If she is enjoying it too, tell your ex to eff off.0 -
Yes! I'm signing my 14 year old daughter up soon!0
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you would take her walking or bike riding with you, you would take her canoeing or hiking.
I think it is good to promote health before there is even a hint of a problem. Healthy habits now will save her lots of heartache and hard times later
YOU are one good example and are helping your daughter be more successful 0 -
It all depends on how they act in the gym, and how you react to their actions.
I took my boys with me to the Y all of the time, somehow I got two gym rats. They both love to lift, something I used to do all through high school and when they were young. And there are plenty of women who bring their kids with them to the exercise room. I think it is a great thing to instill in them.
That being said, the one thing I absolutely *HATE* is when you bring your kids, and they play on the equipment or you change the channels to all of the tvs to Nick and blast some idiot cartoon at me when I was watching the news. I don't believe the exercise rooms are a place for small children. They are clearly marked not for under 14. The equipment isn't a toy to keep children entertained whilst the parents work out, our Y has daycare until 6:00, and people can't use the machine when your child is playing around on it.
I can't tell you the number of times I look down and see small fingers near the treads of the elliptical when I'm on it. I always stop and tell the child to get away from the equipment so they don't get injured. It is generally the same parent who glares at me and tells me they aren't hurting anything. But it will be my a** if her kids get hurt due to her inattention. On the other hand we have a little ballerina that comes in with her mommy, Emma. She always starts out with "Hello Libi, guess what I learned today" After a brief show and tell, she colors or pirouettes or plays with her Barbies in the stretching corner away from the equipment.
Good luck.0 -
yes! I took my daughter- SOMETIMES she would get bored and rather be on her phone- but she learned to make the best of the time- we only went to the gym when we couldn't be outdoors and most of the time I played with her- but from time to time we just had to jump on a machine- none the less.....now she's a 22 year old 5'9' 140 pounds totally fit vegan (and I'm an animal eater!) LOL! She may not like it all the time now but she will thank you later
Kudos for being a great mom! 0 -
It all depends on how they act in the gym, and how you react to their actions.
I took my boys with me to the Y all of the time, somehow I got two gym rats. They both love to lift, something I used to do all through high school and when they were young. And there are plenty of women who bring their kids with them to the exercise room. I think it is a great thing to instill in them.
That being said, the one thing I absolutely *HATE* is when you bring your kids, and they play on the equipment or you change the channels to all of the tvs to Nick and blast some idiot cartoon at me when I was watching the news. I don't believe the exercise rooms are a place for small children. They are clearly marked not for under 14. The equipment isn't a toy to keep children entertained whilst the parents work out, our Y has daycare until 6:00, and people can't use the machine when your child is playing around on it.
I can't tell you the number of times I look down and see small fingers near the treads of the elliptical when I'm on it. I always stop and tell the child to get away from the equipment so they don't get injured. It is generally the same parent who glares at me and tells me they aren't hurting anything. But it will be my a** if her kids get hurt due to her inattention. On the other hand we have a little ballerina that comes in with her mommy, Emma. She always starts out with "Hello Libi, guess what I learned today" After a brief show and tell, she colors or pirouettes or plays with her Barbies in the stretching corner away from the equipment.
Good luck.
that would annoy me .....my gym does not allow children under 130 -
I bring my 9 year old to the gym with me. He doesn't lift weights, but I let him walk on the treadmill, or do pullups, situps, etc.. He loves coming with me!
However, my gym is a family run very small gym and most of the time I'm one of maybe 3 people in there. I doubt I would ever bring him to LA Fitness, for example (not even sure you can). But I am all for promoting healthy habits.0 -
I take my 12 year old daughter when I can. Of course she is a competitive gymnast so she is already in the gymnastics gym M-F for 20 hours a week! But on occasion I take her on Saturdays with me. She is all muscle already and can pretty much hang with me on some things as it is especially core or legs!0
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If she wanted to go, h***l yeah! As long as you know she is being healthy and not going overboard (as teenagers are known to do) there is nothing wrong with it. I would ask her father what he doesn't like about it. Is he seeing worrisome behaviors? It's no different than being on track or in soccer. At that age a lot of sports teams hit the gym too.
At work, I do a lot of workouts with the little girl I nanny. She is way too little for the gym, but she loves baby yoga and sitting on my back telling me when to go up and down for pushups. When she's older we'll do more together (I've heard little ones love Zumba). I honestly don't feel there is a difference. Kids and teens naturally enjoy activity if it is instilled in them. Hopefully, the fond memories of your mother daughter time will bring that through to adulthood. You are encouraging age appropriate activities, nothing wrong with that.0 -
I don't have kids yet but I'm about to join a gym (literally tonight) and I wouldn't mind people bringing their teenagers to the gym as long as they observed the rules like anyone else. I think I'd be reluctant to same the same for younger children though... primarily because they typically have less self-control in regards to being noisey/disruptive to people around them.0
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I think 13 is a good age for some maturity. However to the b*tch that brought her 9-10 year old to a lifting/strength class I wanted to slap the hell out of her. The instructor had to spend extra time dealing with watching her (which took time away from EVERYONE) and making sure she didn't hurt herself. Some places are just not for kids.
:explode:0 -
I work out at home with my 10 year old, and during the last summer he was my running partner occasionally. If I could, I would bring him to gym with me.0
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My daughters are 26 and 24. Since the age of 5 they were required to always have a sport. It could be dance, cheer, or any sort of physical activity. They never questioned it. They both ran cross country and track in high school. I got a lot of crap from friends and family for MAKING my kids do a sport. I was told they would grow up hating exercise, having body issues, etc... However, it was an expectation, just like they had to do homework, eat dinner, visit grandma, and clean up after themselves.
My kids are both active, healthy adults. They both still exercise and work out on a regular basis. One plays Gaelic football, soccer, runs, and does cross fit. They other runs 5 ks. They both are active and hike and participate in outdoorsy things. As adults my girls do have some body issues. However, I think the vast majority of women have body issues. I think I would rather them have the anxiety about staying in shape rather than the anxiety, guilt, discrimination issues they would have if they needed to lose 50 pounds. Honestly, I wish my mom would have made physical activity a priority.0 -
Absolutely! My school required us to go to a fitness center that was built on the roof for P.E. when I was in 11th grade. After myself & a few others really began to endorse it, they required it for all students from 9th grade on. I think teenagers should be taught to embrace healthy living as soon as possible.
When I become a parent, I'm making sure that my kids are involved with active activities that they enjoy (whether it be sports, dancing, or another recreational activity), & once they're in their teens I intend on showing them how to lift & exercise properly.
I think you made a good choice for your child.
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My mom was a personal trainer when I was younger, so on days when my dad (a fireman) was working, she'd bring my younger brother and me with her. Sometimes we would just hang out with the owner's kids and watch TV, but when it wasn't very busy, we would go in and use the ellipticals and smaller weight machines. I think this started when I was around 9 and he was around 70
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Did he give you a reason he doesn't want her there?
ETA: I can't wait until our kids can lift with us.0 -
Why doesn't he want her to go to the gym? Rather than just telling him to F off, maybe try educating him in RE to whatever he's concerned with. I know my mom was concerned with me working out when I was younger and that it would stunt my growth, etc...lots of myths out there that can be easily busted with a little knowledge.
Personally, I can't wait to take my boys to the gym. My gym also has kid friendly workout programs, so something you might want to look into.0 -
I take my son all the time! He runs cross country for his middle school and benefits from it greatly! He's not allowed to do the weight machines, but can use free weights. He also enjoys the elliptical and treadmill.0
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There are quite a few people at my gym who work out with their kids, mostly lifting which I think is wonderful.0
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he has no reason as far as I know...she mentioned to him that I had been taking her..he replied with that's stupid you don't need to be at the gym.0
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I would try to educate him but we can't even have a productive conversation. :grumble:0
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I CANNOT wait to take my daughter with me when she is old enough. She is not even a year, so I have a LONG way to go. I think it will be good bonding time for the two of us, instill healthy values and also help her focus on things like homework when we get home. Obviously I won't make her go if she hates it, but I hope it is something the two of us can enjoy together.0
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Why on earth would her father object? Exercise and fitness are very impotant to kids. Most are overweight lazy couch potaotoes. I wouild be thrilled if someone brought my kids to the gym when they were that age.
He should be thrilled that your daughter is doing something healthy.0 -
Yes I would and did, as soon as she showed interest.0
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Our now 15 year old daughter has been going with my husband and I since July of last year. Just this past weekend we took our 12 year old daughter for the first time. She loved it and wants a membership which we will do next month (we have a few free passes to use up). In August our youngest daughter will be 12 and we will take her as well. My husband and I are advocates of teaching our kids about being healthy not fat/thin. We talk about nutrition a lot and are teaching "everything in moderation".0
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Personally I think it's almost a necessity for guys to be working out at this age that play sports and want to be serious about or they can be fairly far behind especially if they haven't been going through growth spurts. I don't see why this should be any different for girls. I totally promote kids of this age being in the gym provided they are respectful to the people there and they have someone paying fairly good attention to what and how they're doing things they can hurt themselves fairly quickly and badly. I also think its just as important for kids to be involved in team sports. It promotes a sense of belonging, teamwork. Self esteem and accomplishment that you can't get anywhere else. This is not for everyone and shouldn't be pushed but just encouraged. Pushing just causes kids to do the exact opposite or just comply and hate every minute of it.
I have my 5 year old in ice skating, dance, and Zumba. She loves it all and we'll probably do tball in the spring. Promoting being healthy is all you can do. They have a personality of their own and wi make their decisions whether you like it or not
My 2 cents0 -
Is he worried that some dirty old men will try hitting on her or something?0
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