Duggars By the Dozen 34: Lens Flare Photo with the Grandkids

[Lyle Lanley]

3 minutes ago, nastyhobbitses said:

Yup, he was SUPER fucking anti-Semitic (though then again, most non-Jews in Russia were in those days). He also choked whenever he had to make actual tough decisions and threw away his last chance to save himself and his family by acting like a petulant brat about reforms that, had he pulled up his goddamn big boy panties and recognized that a constitutional monarchy would give him EXACTLY WHAT HE WANTED (all the fun of being king with none of the decision making), would have probably saved his skin and/or placated enough moderates to at least postpone the shit that went down in 1917. But nope. 

I have a dim view of the both Nicky and Alix. I get that circumstances made them what they were and they weren't evil people, but they were monumentally stupid, short-sighted, egomaniacal, and incompetent, and their stupidity and incompetence cost millions of people their lives, themselves and their children included. 

This goes back to the royalty forum but it actually does bother me that Nicholas and Alexandra were canonized. It felt as if it was a calculated political move rather than a move out of sincerity by both the Russian Orthodox Church and the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad. They really did nothing of note to "deserve" being canonized.

[nastyhobbitses]

2 minutes ago, Lyle Lanley said:

16 minutes ago, nastyhobbitses said:

 

This goes back to the royalty forum but it actually does bother me that Nicholas and Alexandra were canonized. It felt as if it was a calculated political move rather than a move out of sincerity by both the Russian Orthodox Church and the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad. They really did nothing of note to "deserve" being canonized.

It is absolutely political. I'm pretty much convinced that Putin is positioning himself as a sort of neo-Czar, and canonizing the last one (even though Putin would likely regard Nicholas as weak and idiotic, which is something Putin and I can find some common ground on) is a great way to essentially instill church/state-sanctioned Czar image rehab and create a false nostalgia for Russia's "glory days" as a great empire. He's actually pretty masterful at it, I have to hand it to him. 

[Rachel333]

4 hours ago, Meggo said:

That's what startled me (as a transplant to Canada). That 6 is a "late start" - how early do you START these little people in hockey?

I don't think that's a Canadian or hockey thing, it's just become an unfortunate trend in youth sports in general.

[AussieKrissy]

9 hours ago, Meggo said:

That's what startled me (as a transplant to Canada). That 6 is a "late start" - how early do you START these little people in hockey?

And some parents have their kids out there on the ice (not necessarily playing hockey) as soon as they can walk. Tiny bitty little wobbly tots on skates.
But I have nephews who around about 8 maybe? and their travel league just won some tourney. But I don't want him to get into travel league unless he loves it - his family is constantly at a practice, clinic, game or something, Nearly every night, definitely every weekend. I don't want to sign up for that. And they have two boys - who don't play on the same team - so all of that - times two. And I am not convinced the boys love it - I think they get pressured by their dad to love it.

 

Oh that’s so sad. My daughter will have to stick out the commitment  then if she wants to quit I will let her. All but swimming. She must stay in swimming until she can save herself in a pool and if she hates it after that so be it. 

Also I am to lazy to have that kind of crazy dedication. Plus I don’t believe that is not a well rounded childhood. I would like my child to explore many opportunities and experiences. 

[nastyhobbitses]

6 hours ago, Rachel333 said:

I don't think that's a Canadian or hockey thing, it's just become an unfortunate trend in youth sports in general.

They get filtered/tracked pretty much from day one too. I took gymnastics starting I think in kindergarten, and almost immediately I was put in the "never gonna make it" group, while other girls were very clearly put in the "will actually compete in this sport/actually worth teaching" group. I liked doing gymnastics itself, but I think that I knew very early on that the instructors thought I was chubby and awkward and not really worth instructing because I wasn't naturally talented enough. So I ended up giving it up after a while.

[Daisy0322]

20 minutes ago, nastyhobbitses said:

They get filtered/tracked pretty much from day one too. I took gymnastics starting I think in kindergarten, and almost immediately I was put in the "never gonna make it" group, while other girls were very clearly put in the "will actually compete in this sport/actually worth teaching" group. I liked doing gymnastics itself, but I think that I knew very early on that the instructors thought I was chubby and awkward and not really worth instructing because I wasn't naturally talented enough. So I ended up giving it up after a while.

My son is in gymnastics at 15 months (mainly for the fun of it but also because he was a late walker and just very cautious) they ALREADY in the toddler class are looking at the kids and judging thier abilities. Like the teacher told me my son was coordinated and was athletic but we needed to work on how nervous he is or "he will never compete". I was floored. I kinda just smiled and walked away but seriously some parents in there are legit yelling at thier 2 year old about not trying hard enough and they are critical of every little move they make, making them do each station 5,6,7 times!

[Meggo]

My son was in gymnastics for the same reason. And I didn't care if he mastered whatever they were doing - he just had to try and have fun. He was in it because I thought it would help with his core muscles (preemie - so they're weaker). But we put him in again last session and he didn't like it (there was a lot of standing still waiting till you could do x, y & z). 

He's in swimming too - and I'm the same as @AussieKrissy - we have a boat - we have a cottage on a lake - you WILL learn to not drown. And he likes it most days - so I'm good with that. 

But any other sport he wants to try, I'm down for. I don't expect him to compete on a national level - if he likes <fill in name of sport> and wants to continue in it - Great. 

[SassyPants]

In terms of starting kids young, my brothers and all their boys (I only have brothers and they both only have boys) are 100% jocks. Most of the boys (5) are good at many sports, but football is the favored sport.They all started organized leagues at 4 years (ridiculous imo). Of the 5, 2 were taller, more solid boys, while 3 were on the tinier size. Of all the kids, the tiniest one is the only one still involved. He is in his 2nd year of JC and just received his first D-1 scholarship offer. He is absolutely the last one who any of us would have expected to go this far. What this boy has beyond the others is tenacity and a wonderful personality. He has also grown to be the second largest of the group. Seriously, you can't tell anyone's athletic ability at 15 months.

[EyesOpen]

Our family is the odd one out that only does fun house sports here and there... the boys can’t even have normal play dates with friends cause their friends are at some practice or game every night. We are a scout family. That is time consuming. We let each kid choose one other thing. Oldest is loving swim. Middle likes soccer. Little is 2. She tags along for now! 

[Carm_88]

Skating/hockey, I think starts so early because in rural areas there's not much else for kids to do in winter. I started skating at 3 or 4, received skates every year for Christmas until I was 13 or 14. There wasn't much else to do in winter. The ice was hard enough, you skated until supper or until it got dark, and then you went in, did your homework, and went quickly to sleep because you had wore yourself out. Skating is so fun and so are pick up hockey games on a pond. Pond hockey is the best hockey! Constant arguments over whose turn it is to be goalie, whose turn it is to look for the puck that went in a snowbank (again), and forgetting the score calling it even because you're froze and it's time for supper!

[VeryNikeSeamstress]

Wow! Three months with no pregnant Duggars. How much longer will it last?

[HerNameIsBuffy]

5 minutes ago, VeryNikeSeamstress said:

Wow! Three months with no pregnant Duggars. How much longer will it last?

How upset do you think JB/J'chelle are about this turn of events?  I hope very, they annoy me so I have major schadenfreude where they are concerned.

[VBOY9977]

17 minutes ago, VeryNikeSeamstress said:

Wow! Three months with no pregnant Duggars. How much longer will it last?

4 actually ? Felicity was born in July

but think at least two Duggar females are pregnant right now

[VelociRapture]

My almost two year old daughter is in a “gymnastics” class through the town Park and Rec department right now. We started because she was a preemie (like @Meggo‘s son) and we thought it would help her physical development - and we were so right about that. Lol! It’s a fantastic class - most of it is letting the kids run around and play on the gym mats however they want, though we also have full access to the big balance beams and the little mini bars. The mat layouts are different each week and they also play music, set up ball pits (though they stop that during flu season), and have bubbles sometimes.  The last 15 minutes are spent in circle time (doing “stretches” and forward rolls), one gymnastics activity with the teachers (like the balance beam or backwards rolls), and then we have sticker and song time.

It’s a great class and all the kids love it. The teachers are all Gymnastics teachers and sometimes talk about the sport, but the emphasis is really just on having fun and introducing the kids to Gymnastics in a positive way. Thankfully, I haven’t heard any talk like other parents have. I think she may be aging out of that class after this year unfortunately, but that’s ok. We can try the next class up, which is a bit more structured. If she doesn’t like it we’ll stop going after that first session ends.

[Meggo]

40 minutes ago, VelociRapture said:

My almost two year old daughter is in a “gymnastics” class through the town Park and Rec department right now. We started because she was a preemie (like @Meggo‘s son) and we thought it would help her physical development - and we were so right about that. Lol! It’s a fantastic class - most of it is letting the kids run around and play on the gym mats however they want, though we also have full access to the big balance beams and the little mini bars. The mat layouts are different each week and they also play music, set up ball pits (though they stop that during flu season), and have bubbles sometimes.  The last 15 minutes are spent in circle time (doing “stretches” and forward rolls), one gymnastics activity with the teachers (like the balance beam or backwards rolls), and then we have sticker and song time.

It’s a great class and all the kids love it. The teachers are all Gymnastics teachers and sometimes talk about the sport, but the emphasis is really just on having fun and introducing the kids to Gymnastics in a positive way. Thankfully, I haven’t heard any talk like other parents have. I think she may be aging out of that class after this year unfortunately, but that’s ok. We can try the next class up, which is a bit more structured. If she doesn’t like it we’ll stop going after that first session ends.

I wish that was our class experience. It was when he was little - but this last class... he doesn't stand around waiting very well and he'd have to stand in line for four other kids to have a go on the beam and THEN he'd get to go. And he just couldn't stand there - so he was constantly somewhere else. And it was the same set up every week. AND it was from 6:30-7:30 (bedtime is 8p so he wasn't at his best). 
I tried to do it on Saturday mornings - but he asked not to because "it's hard, Momma". So maybe we'll try to show him some hockey and soccer stuff between now & the next session starting up - see if he decides on one of those.

A friend is desperately trying to get him into scouts or akido too - because her boy (his bestie) is in both - but I don't know if he'd be successful at either. (and I don't mean like "become a world class scout" - I just want him to be able to focus and participate like every other kid and that's hard right now - so I want to find him spaces where he gets to have a "win"... - like swimming) 

[Rachel333]

It's normal to start baseball and soccer at ages 3 and 4 too. My brother started on a baseball team at age 6 and many of his teammates had already been playing for several years and were on a traveling team in addition to the team my brother was on. It was similar with basketball. I think it's a trend with how people approach youth sports in general rather than being about a specific sport. I personally just don't think it can be healthy to get that serious about sports so young. So many kids are under way too much pressure these days.

[Meggo]

Agreed! My goals for him are: 

1. Must learn to swim (really - for me - that's a safety thing - but if he enjoys it and wants to join a team - works for me)
2. Should learn to skate - we're in Canada - skating is inevitable - a passing knowledge of how to play hockey, passing knowledge of how to fall on ice (and how to get up) 
3. I would like him to enjoy being active. Scouts, baseball, soccer, flying kites - whatever. I want him to enjoy an active activity that he can be decent at and want to pursue. I danced as a kid, I swam on the swim team every summer. I loved volleyball but was too chicken to try out in junior high. I want him to be able to do that if he decides to and not let his fear hold him back. 

 

[BachelorToTheRapture]

I remember quite a few sports that I left because they were too competitive. I was in gymnastics in 2nd? grade and really enjoyed it. It wasn't competitive but after a few months they told me I'd need to be put in a group meant for kids 3-4 years younger than me because my cartwheels weren't straight. 

I also played soccer and loved it, but I was cut from the team in 8th grade. The next year they actually called me to try to get me to join again because they didn't have enough people. 

I loved swim team (still swim for exercise) but by high school the commitment level for the high school team nd price for the non school sponsored team were too much. Unfortunately there was no option to only practice a few nights/week for less money.

I feel as though the super competitive environments pushed me out of sports that I would have enjoyed at a less competitive level (and would have helped me stay in shape through high school). A lot of people around my age and younger (I'm 26) feel the same way. I wish there was less focus on competition in youth sports and more opportunities for less athletic people to play sports for fun, particularly at the high school age. Many sports that have fun rec adult leagues require you to be 18, but have no option for kids to occasionally play organized sports just for fun, and as I got older it was harder to find enough friends/neighbors for a lot of games, plus we wanted more space if we could have it.

[Baxter]

One of my husband's friends told my husband that we have waited too long to get our son into hockey. He will be three in January. It's insane. My father-in-law was telling my husband that he wants to get my son a hockey stick for Christmas but that I probably wouldn't like that. While I think that getting so involved in a sport at a young age is crazy, my husband is actually the one who is quite against him playing hockey. His parents had him play hockey from an early age and did all the spring and summer hockey camp stuff. My husband hated it but never got a choice.

Right now our son is in a gymnastics program because he likes to climb on everything. Although we are stopping after this session as the quality of instruction seems to have gone downhill and he isn't enjoying it as much. He also has started swimming lessons which is important for safety so he gets no say in that although he is loving it.

We figure next winter we will put him in skating because I think it is easier to learn when you are closer to the ground. I didn't take skating lessons until I was older and I regret that. We might try some ski lessons too since we have a little ski hill right by our house. My main criteria is that he enjoys whatever he does. My husband I think would be happy to ban hockey. I figure at some point he will play some because he is fairly athletic and is a boy in Canada. But we aren't going crazy with it unless he is absolutely begging us to put him in spring hockey. Kids need to be kids and not have so much pressure put on them. Sports are supposed to be fun.

[Audrey2]

I definitely feel like we force kids to become too specialized too early. Growing up in the 70s and early 80s, I knew the guys would quite often play baseball and maybe do basketball or swimming at the Y. Now it seems like kids are pushed into one sport is preschoolers or primary school students and don't have the opportunity to try or participate in other sports. I think that's why we're seeing more injuries and worse injuries at younger ages. I went to a pretty good-sized high school, about 1,200 students, and it seems like many guys played two sports and that one sport participants were more rare than two sport participants. Unfortunately, I'm not sure that that's the case today.

[Meggo]

2 hours ago, Baxter said:

 

We figure next winter we will put him in skating because I think it is easier to learn when you are closer to the ground. 

Plus I think they're just used to falling down more. I'm not used to falling down - I'm pretty sure I'll break something if I do. (that's just me - I have the worst balance and have been known to injure myself in pretty stupid ways) 

And I agree with @Audrey2 - I think kids get to specialized these days - and it makes sense that would cause more injuries. Cross training is important - not just because it's more fun to do different things. 

[Baxter]

2 hours ago, Audrey2 said:

I definitely feel like we force kids to become too specialized too early. Growing up in the 70s and early 80s, I knew the guys would quite often play baseball and maybe do basketball or swimming at the Y. Now it seems like kids are pushed into one sport is preschoolers or primary school students and don't have the opportunity to try or participate in other sports. I think that's why we're seeing more injuries and worse injuries at younger ages. I went to a pretty good-sized high school, about 1,200 students, and it seems like many guys played two sports and that one sport participants were more rare than two sport participants. Unfortunately, I'm not sure that that's the case today.

Yes I agree with this too. My sister-in-law lives in a rural area and her boys are all in hockey. Everything is about hockey. She came to our city for an activity for her daughter for a week with one of her sons. Original plan was for the son do to things with his grandparents while she was busy with her daughter's stuff. Grandfather ended up with some health issues so she needed to find a new plan. Her first thought was to put him in a hockey camp for the week.

My husband and I thought this was ridiculous. If you normally don't have many options for activities and now you are in a city with lots of options, why not try something else. Thankfully, all the hockey camps were full (of course) so she found a rock climbing camp for him to do instead. He loved it. But if there had have been a spot in hockey camp, he would have never gotten to experience that because of his parents' tunnel vision.

[SassyPants]

2 hours ago, Audrey2 said:

I definitely feel like we force kids to become too specialized too early. Growing up in the 70s and early 80s, I knew the guys would quite often play baseball and maybe do basketball or swimming at the Y. Now it seems like kids are pushed into one sport is preschoolers or primary school students and don't have the opportunity to try or participate in other sports. I think that's why we're seeing more injuries and worse injuries at younger ages. I went to a pretty good-sized high school, about 1,200 students, and it seems like many guys played two sports and that one sport participants were more rare than two sport participants. Unfortunately, I'm not sure that that's the case today.

My son had a friend in elementary and HS who was really into baseball. All the other parents thought his parents were crazy as all this kid did was play baseball. Yep, that kid has been on a MLB baseball (not the multitude of layers in the minors), but went straight to the majors at age 21. He's 28 and has already won a World Series ring. I guess his parents knew better than all of us- LOL.

[Baxter]

4 hours ago, SassyPants said:

My son had a friend in elementary and HS who was really into baseball. All the other parents thought his parents were crazy as all this kid did was play baseball. Yep, that kid has been on a MLB baseball (not the multitude of layers in the minors), but went straight to the majors at age 21. He's 28 and has already won a World Series ring. I guess his parents knew better than all of us- LOL.

I think it is entirely different if it is something that the kid really loves. Then it seems great that the parents supported the interest. The problem is that most of the time it is the parents pushing the kid and it isn't really a passion for the kid. 

[mango_fandango]

I was never into sports as a kid. I did ballet for four years between 7-11 (quit cos I was bored), did swimming lessons, and that was about it. When I was in year 6 I was briefly part of an after-school netball club, although I wasn't that good and didn't continue once I moved up to secondary. At secondary, the main sports were netball, field hockey, swimming, gymnastics, athletics, tennis and rounders (bit like softball). Swimming and gymnastics were OK as only a few people were on the team/squad that competed against other schools, and the rest of us were the same ability level more or less. Netball, field hockey, athletics and rounders were not fun, I was crap at all of them.