All three children enjoy the sessions once we are there, all three are progressing well and are confident enough to speak to the teacher/coach (a huge achievement for them all).
But....the demand of getting there every week, knowing it is coming up and knowing who is/in't there who might be there is often too much for our eldest and youngest, leading to tension Wednesday evenings and meltdowns Thursday mornings.
I have always managed these with the aim of continuing with the sessions because I see how much they thrive when they are there and am reluctant to let it stop.
The gymnastics is held in a community hall where mats are rolled out on the floor, apparatus unfolded from a cupboard which must be related to the tardis, and then tidied away again at the end (usually by our children and the coach amongst a few others). They can work towards the gymnastic badges if they want to - of course both our children with PDA want to, and are highly competitive over who has which badge first, despite the 7 year age gap.
We had tears from our eldest child this last session for just this reason in fact. All of our children have been at 99% of the sessions, so are around the same stage in the badges too. But- our eldest daughter passed her badge this week and the other two didn't. I can hear you all gasping for air knowingly right now.
Our youngest struggles to process a lot of what is said in the sessions because of the movement, other people there, poor concentration and lack of processing time allowed for, but she copes by copying her siblings and hand signals from me. Our eldest tried his best to practice the two skills he is lacking for this badge, but the coach ran out of time, meaning he has a long wait until the next badge session. No amount of explanations or empathy helped him. In the end I took him for time out from the session, suggested a splash of cold water and a swift return to the cool down, which he took me up on, but it has compounded a difficult week for him. (concerned mother as ever).
Small things like this which can be easily brushed off by most children, are a massive issue for my children. They get stuck on unfairness, perceived uncaring and my eldest struggles hugely with the idea that one of his younger siblings might achieve something he has not (although he tends to take it better if it his youngest sibling for some reason).
Because of the processing time my youngest requires, it is heartwarming at times to see him physically helping her in gymnastics, showing her and supporting her to achieve the stretches/shapes and moves she needs to complete. But at the same time he laughs at and demeans our eldest daughter. It is at these times that praising the positive and ignoring the negative becomes tricky........but doable in the long run, with a close eye on her mental wellbeing and mental health, and strategies and techniques for her to deal with it too.
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