Monday, May 04, 2009

A Note to Gymnastics Parents

As the gym has extremely limited seating for parents, please keep in mind that the handful of chairs that line the one available wall are to be claimed by people who will actually use them. Simply stated, they are for the parents.

Note that a one-year-old does not need their own chair. Kudos to you parents with multiple small children for taking your older child to gymnastics class and juggling the other one (or two) on the sidelines.

But be aware that your toddler who spends the class period wandering the gym and jumping on equipment that shouldn't be touched anyway is not using the chair you saved for them. When they do spend time near you, it's on the floor munching fruit snacks, driving toy cars across pads, playing with their dolly, or possibly hanging out on your lap. They're never on the chair.

Furthermore, when a parent who is at least ten years your senior (although, thanks to chipmunk cheeks might not look it) comes looking for a chair to sit on and there is only one left, it behooves you to let that parent have the #*@&^@ chair. 

Do not claim the chair for your young offspring. Do not point at your diapered toddler, who is swinging like a monkey off a bar ten feet away, and say, "Sorry. That chair is my son's/daughter's," and make the older parent sit on the concrete floor and get joint pain.

To the grandmother who takes her grandchildren to class, you of all people should know better. Those in polite society regularly give their seats to you, but you seem to think that the same courtesy should not be extended to others. 

Your grandkid, cute though he may be, really does not need a chair to himself. Note that he refuses to sit in it and then spends the hour running around the gym like a banshee. When he calms down, he climbs not onto the chair that you thoughtfully reserved for him (and that you refused to let a mother use), but he climbs onto your lap. 

He doesn't even touch the chair you reserved for your beloved posterity, an act that made a grown woman (who could be a grandmother in ten years herself) sit on the hard, cold floor.

In short, chairs in the gym should be reserved for those who can speak in complete sentences, can cut their own food, and who don't have a diaper to cushion their behinds from the concrete.

Thank you for your cooperation.

35 comments:

Meggen said...

Obviously, you are not bitter about this experience. ;) Certainly, we as a society could do a lot to be more considerate of others. Thanks for the reminder. Hope your backside is feeling better.

Annette Lyon said...

Not bitter at all. :D

If it were just a one-time thing, it wouldn't bug me so much. But it's every single stinkin' week. I can't understand these people.

Jenna said...

Oh my gosh, I so agree with you. That kind of stuff bugs the heck out of me too.

Kristina P. said...

How completely annoying!

Stephanie Black said...

That totally boggles my mind. "Reserving" a seat for a toddler who won't use it anyway while a grown woman sits on the floor? Crazy!

Rebecca Irvine said...

Some people are so thoughtless, not to mention annoying.

LisAway said...

I'm not a gymnastics parent, but I read it anyway (hope that's okay :) I would most certainly have said something. That doesn't mean I wouldn't have been incredibly annoyed watching those kids run around and NOT sit in their seat.

And plus, who am I kidding? I probably actually wouldn't say anything and would just keep wondering how some people are so clueless.

Unknown said...

It seems like a lot of people are missing the whole "common courtesy" aspect of interpersonal relations. Wow.

Heather Moore said...

How annoying!! Kids aren't meant to sit down :)

Erin said...

That's for sure! Kids need to run around to get out their energy anyway.

Jillybean said...

Perhaps you should bring one of those folding camp chairs, place it in front of the offending parents and sit in it so they can't actually see the gymnastics.

Heatherlyn said...

Would it help to get their earlier and take the chair first?

Lara Neves said...

I say that next time, you should borrow a couple toddlers from your friends and get there early enough to save them seats and refuse to give them up. :)

Marcia Mickelson said...

As a mom of an overactive 3 year old who never sits in 'his' chair, I would never, ever save him a chair if someone needed it. I rarely sit down myself because I'm running after him grabbing him off of the stuff he's climbing on. So, someone can have my chair too!

Rachel Sue said...

I like Jillybean's idea. Except put it in front of said reserved chair. And when they complain, point out the fact that it is empty.

Brittany Marie said...

I think this should be a rule at the movie theater too. Oh wait, why are people bringing 2 yr olds to X-Men Origins: Wolverine anyway?

Kimberly Vanderhorst said...

I know I shouldn't be giggling, but the mental picture you paint is just so entertaining!

Cluttered Brain said...

OH! I really hope your backside feels better this morning! I've totally seen people do this same thing before. My kids don't sit, and neither will yours! :)
Thanks for the entertaining story though!

Jen said...

Well said! If you could hear me now, you'd hear my applause! I go through this all the time when I go to my daughter's gymnastics meets. Ewww. Gets my goat.

amelia said...

LAME. Next time, bust out the cell phone and make a fake passive-aggressive phone call "Oh, I'm just sitting on the floor at the gym. The empty seats are being taken by invisible children."

Loralee and the gang... said...

That's just rude! Not only commandeering the chair, but letting the child run wild! It's not safe and it's destructive. I'm surprised that whatever person in charge there hasn't thrown them out already. Maybe if they got enough complaints???
:~D

Melanie Jacobson said...

Hm. So if I got you diapers so your bum would be cushioned too, would that help?

Or am I taking the wrong message away here?

Jo said...

You tell them honey! Grrr, people like make me crazy!

Heffalump said...

I hope you are over your joint pain, for this week anyway!
I would personally just sit down in that chair and see what the old lady did. And if she said something I would tell her that I would be moving when the kid actually decided to come and sit down in the chair.

Laura said...

BYOC- Bring Your Own Chairs. Set them up in a row in front of the other chairs. Ha ha ha. Now you know what kind of person I am.

Barbaloot said...

I think you should post this on the gym wall:)

On another note, gymnastics scares the HECK out of me! I admire anyone who can do it, but if my kids ever want to learn, I may just die.

hi, it's me! melissa c said...

This was great! I have a feeling you are speaking from personal experience. I should probably read the other comments and I will, but I just wondered if you ever said anything to these people.

You could, you know, in a nice way. Or just plop down and laugh saying your feet are killing you or even bring an older woman older saying, "Her child isn't using this seat. Go ahead and sit down."

What will the other lady say? She would probably let you sit. That is terrible though. People can be pretty stupid, that's for sure.

hi, it's me! melissa c said...

I had to laugh at the comment of getting there earlier! ha ha ha ha

with some people, it doesn't matter what time you get there, they are already there saving their spot! Some people are not as subtle as they think!

I hear you though. Just had to add this tidbit after reading the comments. Too funny!

Sher said...

Amen Sista!
Remember back in the old days, when parentes used to teach their children that it's polite to give up their chair for adults, or for ladies?
What is the world coming to?

Kerri said...

Do you go to our gym? Man, it sounds like it. (GTC?)

Annette Lyon said...

Kerri, That's not ours. Sounds like a widespread problem!

Heather of the EO said...

OK...so let me get this straight...

You are intelligent, witty, bright, reflective, gifted, creative, etc...

AND you're super sarcastically funny on top of it all?

I love you. :)

Anonymous said...

On the other hand, there is something to be said for being kind when we have the opportunity to be something else. Isn't that when we show our commitment to love?

An Ordinary Mom said...

How irritating ... that is why my son is left at home when my daughter has gymnastics. Let us know which idea you use next week :) !!

Karlene said...

Oooh, I like the camp chair in front of the offending person idea. :)

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