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Roman Kostomarov on the rules of raising children
The Olympic figure skating champion himself chose a profession for his children.
Two children are growing up in the family of figure skaters Roman Kostomarov and Oksana Domnina. Nastya, the eldest, turned 2 on January 7, and her brother Ilya on January 15 was 2 years old. And you can’t get overwhelmed by a star couple!
From early childhood, Roman and Oksana teach their offspring to a sports regimen. What other principles are skaters guided by in raising children, Roman Kostomarov told healthy-food-near-me.com.
Parents should choose a profession for children
How else? Many children begin to think about their future specialty at the age of 16, when they already graduate from school. It’s too late to be the best in your profession. So it is up to the parents to guide their children in the choice. And do it as early as possible.
I want to see my children only in sports. There are no other options. Regular training builds character for life. If a child goes in for sports, then he will cope with any difficulties in adulthood. So Nastya is now playing tennis and dancing at the Todes studio school. When Ilya grows up, we will also play tennis or hockey.
The earlier the child plays sports, the better.
Oksana and I didn’t really insist, but my daughter wanted to skate herself. She was then three years old. Of course, at first she was afraid, her legs were wobbling. We thought the child would break his head for sure. But over time, she got used to it and now runs quite briskly on the ice.
Some parents, I know, try to put the child on skates almost before he really learns to walk. Well, each parent chooses what is most convenient for him. Someone thinks that it is impossible to send a child to sports at an early age, they say, it will break his psychology. I am of a different opinion.
Many people told me that tennis should be brought in at the age of 6-7, when the child is more or less matured both physically and psychologically. I sent Nastya to the court when she was four. And I do not regret it at all. The child is only seven, and she already plays at a pretty decent level. This is another level of understanding the game, knowing how to hold the racket, how to hit the ball. Imagine if she had just started?
The child must succeed on his own
I will definitely not allow my children to rest on their parents’ laurels. They have to go through the same difficult path to success as Oksana and I. But this does not mean that Nastya and Ilya have no childhood. My daughter studies up to 4 hours in kindergarten. And then – freedom! We did not send her to school either, although the age of 6,5 years allowed. We decided to let the child run and play with dolls.
Although we are also preparing Nastya for school. A year ago, she began to attend additional classes. The daughter is taken to school from kindergarten for two hours, then returned. We chose for her an ordinary, state one, without any fashionable bells and whistles. True, with an in-depth study of art. The main thing for us is that the child is healthy and goes in for sports.
Classes are held once a week. Sometimes in the morning he can be capricious: I don’t want to go to kindergarten! I conduct explanatory conversations with her. “Nastenka, today you don’t want to go to kindergarten. Trust me, when you go to school, you will regret it. In kindergarten you came, played, fed you, put you to bed. Then they woke up, fed them, and sent them out for a walk. Pure pleasure! And what awaits you next when you go to school? “
In the evening, my daughter begins her “adult” life: one day she plays tennis, the other – dancing. Nastya has more than enough energy. And if it is not directed into a peaceful channel, it will destroy the whole house. Children from idleness do not know what to do with themselves. They’ll either watch a cartoon, or stare at some gadget. And for two hours in training, she gets so tired that, when she comes home, she will have dinner and go to bed.
I remember that a serious incentive for me to go in for sports was the desire to go abroad, buy cola and gum there. Now is a different time, different possibilities, you cannot seduce a child with one cola. This means that another motivation is needed. At first, Nastya and I also had: “I don’t want to go to training!” – “What do you mean, I don’t want to?” I had to explain that there is no such word “I do not want”, there is – “I must.” And that’s all. There was no pressure from parental authority.
Now I use my daughter’s addiction to dolls as a stimulus. I tell her: if you do three workouts perfectly, you will have a doll. And now various soft toys have appeared, for the sake of which she is ready to run to classes almost every day. The main thing is that there is a desire to train, to achieve victories.