To think this is the most ridiculous system ever?

[ScrambledToe]

My daughter goes to gymnastics. To enroll you have to turn up on a set date a week before the 10 week course starts. There are 40 slots on a first come first serve basis. The 40 are split into an afternoon group and a morning group. Most parents want the morning slot.

Last time I enrolled her i got there at 9:30 and I was 37th in the line of people waiting outside! It means dd got the afternoon slot as people know to get there early if they want the morning slot.

Ideally I’d prefer the morning slot this time but some parents start queuing at 6am to guarantee!!!

I really don’t want to wait for 4hrs with my kids to try and get a morning slot which isn’t even guaranteed!

Aibu to think this is a really shit way of doing this?

Christ does the teacher hand out rubies or something what on earth makes it so good it's worth wielding 4 hours for I'd find somewhere else TBH

It’s the only one in the area which is on a weekend.

Wow, you obviously live in a more tiger mummy area, round here you just login and pay. My child simply would do a different sporting activity if it involved all that nonsense!

Is this in the U.K.?

Might be shit for you, but it's perfectly fine and very little hassle from the club's point of view. And that is, of course, what matters to them.

A "fairer" system with drawing from a pool, assigning to am/pm, depending on stated availability, blah blah blah - just more complex for them. And the result is the same, as far as they're concerned.

So suck it up, I guess.

It’s a competetive club but this is just recreational class which they then get picked from if good enough.
Itms too elitist for my chilled out brain, but dd really wants to go

If you already have a class and are a customer do you still have to queue? That's very poor form if so, new places should be offered to existing customers

Yeah, it’s UK. It’s less tiger mum area and more no other options

Exactly gunpowder. She’ll already done 8 weeks and now has to re enrol.

Am i a bad mum if i cba to leave the house at 6am tomorrow for this? And tell het (she’s 5) they’ve been cancelled?

That's appalling you don't get first dibs on the next class. Definitely don't leave at 6am!

In Belgium this is the system for school places let alone extra curriculum classes.

This is how we had to get swimming lessons for our DC! People queuing out through the leisure centre doors for hours before the release of registration. Madness. I stopped because I couldn’t be arsed with it every time. I don’t know if it’s still the same system.

Oh yes, I remember having to do this sort of thing for my eldest swimming lessons at the local leisure centre. Two terms of that and I gave up and sent him to a small swim school one of the former leisure centre teachers had set up. It was far easier!

Is there no after school group she could go to instead?

Yep, I've been there and done that, for me it was the Leisure Centre for swimming lessons. I've queued at ridiculous times in the morning just to get a place for my DC's in the much sought after Saturday am slot. Twenty years on, I can confirm that it changed no ones life - they would still have learned to swim in a different slot. Looking back I think I must have been totally bonkers.

I’ve decided not to get in to this shit. Dd might hate me for it but it won’t be for forever!

A 6am start every 10 weeks is too much hassle, different if it was a one off to get the place.

What if you got there an hour earlier, 8/8.30am? Would you still get a morning slot then?

But I'd either accept the afternoon slot or find another activity she can do in the morning, but it depends on how much she loves it and how good she is.

This is how swimming lessons were booked when I was a child. People would be there all night. My mum and her sisters made a night of it!

I had thought with the invention of internet things had moved on! They certainly have where lessons are concerned!

I agree as well that once enrolled they should maintain their space. Then if you want different time slot go on a waiting list for when someone leaves.

Any extra spaces can be taken up by people on a waiting list applying directly to the club.

They aren't really showing any sort of loyalty to their members and you leaving shows the effect of this.

It is too much givemesteel it stays this way until the girls are chosen to progress in to the competitive classes. Then the whole queuing thin ends. But they can do the recreation class from 5-10, so if she’s not in to or good enough to compete then we’d have 5yrs of this!!

I have no childcare too so don’t want to wait there for 4hrs with 2 kids!

I did the afternoon slot last term and it just eats in to the whole day.