A man recently asked the internet if he was a jerk for making his daughter give up the sport that she loves.
Here’s what he had to say.
The dad, 30, has an 8-year-old daughter called Eve. Eve is heavily involved with gymnastics and cheer and spends most of her time on the sport.
The dad and the mother are no longer together, so he only sees his daughter and his other children every other week. His ex has primary custody of all the kids. So his time with his kids is very much limited.
“I barely spend time with my eldest daughter because she’s constantly at a competition or a class. Then when I do get the little time with her, the only thing she still thinks about is gymnastics,” he said. He obviously wants to support her and spends around $14,000 on gymnastics a year for her, but he feels she takes it too seriously.
Whenever Eve stays at her dad’s house, she stretches for 45 minutes a day, or she’s on her iPad constantly looking at gymnast videos.
But then, one day, something happened that made him want Eve to give up the sport.
“I took her and her other siblings to a trampoline park, and Eve refused to jump.. because she was scared that she would injure herself and had a full-blown panic attack,” he said.
The dad wasn’t going to force her to jump, but he was very concerned with his daughter’s connection to the sport and felt it was toxic.
He spoke to his ex about it and explained to her that it was unhealthy, but she just told him that their daughter really loves gymnastic and that it’s no longer a hobby for her because she’s a level six.
Although the man understands that she’s very good at it and could be a positive thing for her future, he thinks that the odds of her becoming an Olympian are pretty low.
“My biggest concern is that she isn’t going to have time to be a child.. there is no reason my daughter at eight should be worried about her future,” the man said.
Now his ex does agree that Eve doesn’t have a healthy balance with the sport, but the man knows that she would never make Eve quit because she wants to keep Eve happy rather than parent her.
So now the man is thinking of seeing a lawyer in order to get his daughter to cut back on the sport. He wants to do it so that his daughter can have a normal childhood, but his sister thinks he’s a jerk for making his daughter quit something that she loves.
The man made it clear that he didn’t want to take her out of gymnastics so that he could spend more time with her. He is solely thinking about her childhood and feels that it’s too much pressure for a child.
So he asked the Reddit community what they thought of the situation and if he was wrong for pulling his daughter out of a sport she loves.
Many commenters thought the dad was in the wrong, but some agreed that sport at a high level for such a young girl could be damaging.
One user said, “Let your kid live her life. If you miss her, offer to take her to lessons. Sit in the gym and watch her. Take an interest in your kid’s activities and loves. Research what this level 6 means and praise her for her work. I don’t understand parents that don’t LIKE their kids.”
Another said, “An 8-year-old should not be worried to the point of having a panic attack about a possible injury while doing normal kid stuff. She can be enthusiastic about gymnastics while still having other interests.”
One commenter completely agreed with the dad, saying, “once you’re at level 6 and heading toward the elite, it’s absolutely not good for your physical fitness. I would genuinely never let my daughter do gym.”
What do you think? Should the 8-year-old be allowed to continue with her sport?
Source: Reddit
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