kids and skydiving,do they mix?

[herohunter 0]

I'd just like to know
how many of you guys were jumping before you had children,and what changes did you make with regards to insurance and cover for injuries after you had some kids?
was anyone under any pressure from partners to stop
I ask this as i am about to have a baby later this year

[popeyefireman 0]

I just had my first baby 3 weeks ago, and nothing really has change with insurance. I have great life insurance and excellent medical ( helps that I am a paramedic). The only thing that realy change is the style of jumping i am working for now. I am starting to look at camera work and aiming my skills toward that. That way at the very less i my cut some of the cost and maybe make a little for a college fund ( mind you it will be side work). My wife iis very supportive of me skydiving and realizes that the acual risk is low, is done conservativly.

Adam

"I Yam what I Yam"

I am not afriad to die, only to die without living.

[jseiverth 0]

I am about the same as popeyefireman. I have 2 kids, oldest is 2 1/2. I slowed down a bit to spend time with my kids, and I am working more than fun jumping. The working jumps help me to afford to stay in the air and it also keeps the wife from complaining about me spending to much time at the DZ, cause I bring home some shopping money for her. I am lucky that I usually get off my real job at about 3pm, so I get to spend alot lot of time with them during the week. So I don't think spending a Sat or Sun at the DZ is depriving them of time with Dad. I also have good life and health insurance. I would say that this is necessary if you are going to skydive and want to be a responsible parent. As for pressure from parents, it's not their choice, tink it through and decide for youself. My kids are the most important thing to me, but I still love my time at the DZ. Good luck

[WeakMindedFool 0]

I'm with popeye. Wife is supportive (actually got me a tandem for my birthday last year, it's how I started) I had a kid already so I don't really fit your question there. Insurance, different medical covers differently, you'll have to check with your carrier. It made no difference with either my medical or life insurance. If it came down to it for me, kids are way better then skydiving.

Faith in a holy cause is to a considerable extent a substitute for lost faith in ourselves.
-Eric Hoffer -
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[koz2000 1]

I definitely made sure my life insurnance covered skydiving. Besides that not much changed.
I have started teaching my 2 1/2 yr old a good arch, proper freefly position, etc..

______________________________________________
- Does this small canopy make my balls look big? - J. Hayes -

[jeepnjump 0]

I started after I had kids. My life insurance covers skydiving, so no problem there.
My wife is very supportive of me jumping, and alot of times the whole family goes out to the dropzone for the day.

The only thing I thought of was that my kids are growing up to think of skydiving as normal. My son will be 15 in june and wants to start packing to save up for his AFF. My wife and I have no problems with the kids jumping when they are old enough.

Tony

[sdgregory 0]

I just started skydiving in October. My youngest child is 9 1/2. I made sure my insurance covered it (life and medical) but that was it. Other than that, I just do it.

Like you my kids are growing up thinking skydiving is normal. Two of them want to do it when they are old enough. My 16 year old is not to terribly interested she may or may not try it, but my 11 year old daughter and my 9 year son have the fire in their eyes. I will definitely help them out when the time comes (financially). If I get AFF/I rated by then I will not be teaching them. Just like I do not teach them to drive myself.

I will definitely encourage them to try it.

[linestretch 0]

I have nothing! No wife, no life insurance, no medical, and it's all because of skydiving. I have a 4 years old that has 80 skydives in the womb too. I would have to say skydiving contributed a huge part to my divorce. What does this have to do with your question? Probably nothing.

my pics & stuff!

[WrongWay 0]

Congrats!!!

I have no kids, so this is not from personal experience, but from what I've seen, jumpers have either kept jumping normally or quit altogether. I could be wrong, but that's just what I see.

Wrong Way
D #27371 Mal Manera Rodriguez Cajun Chicken Ø Hellfish #451
The wiser wolf prevails.

[pullhigh 0]

I started jumping when my oldest was about 5 month's old. I now have 2 kids, and they are growing up to think that skydiving is just something everybody does. Some dads play golf, some dads fish, their dad skydives. As far as insurance, I have enough to take care of my business, and my family in the event that I die. I have good medical coverage in case of an accident. The only insurance I have not found, and would like to, is some sort of income protection service to cover me if I was out of work due to an accident. All that I have found excludes skydiving. I am pretty much an every weekend jumper, and still sneak in the occasional weekday jump. When the kids have a soccer game or something, I try to take the day off from jumping to spend with them. I do tandems at the DZ, and they know that if things are busy, dad has to "work", but if times are slow, I take the time to make it to the games. It's not a normal marriage, for the wife and I, but it works fo us.

Ganja

[totalwreck 0]

Hey hero --

First, congrats on the soon-to-be tax deduction.

Second, I started jumping a couple of years ago when my only child was 7. I thought long and hard about whether I was being irresponsible by jumping when I have a young child. I finally concluded that, yes, I was, but because I convinced myself the risk could be managed somewhat, I talked myself into continuing. So, I am the most cautious skydiver you have ever seen (larger canopy than recommended to me, obsessive packer, land way out in the student field, etc.) and approach the sport with a safety first attitude (as do most jumpers, I think). You can kid yourself into thinking that lots of other parents have risky jobs (cops, firemen, convenience store clerks), but for many (most) of us, this isn't our livelihood, it's just how we have fun. And therefore, it is a discretionary activity, and so must be a personal decision.

My wife doesn't like that I jump (even though she bought me my AFF 1 jump), but she knows it makes me happy and she understands that's important. She did, however, make me bump up my life insurance. (She I be worried when she now suggests I go jump?)

[flyangel2 2]

Balance. I started skydiving before I was married and had kids. My boys lost their father to a skydiving related accident. I didn't think I would continue, but I did get back into the air because of the love of support of my boys. My boys are both older now, and looking forward to jumping.

Thank god Jack had a good life insurance policy and a up to date will and living will. You need to make sure all of that is in order if you have children. Maybe look into getting insurance that pays off the house if something happens to you. And never be late on those payments to the insurance company.

May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds. - Edward Abbey

[tbrown 26]

Jumped in my single days, starting when I was eighteen. I met my wife when she called me up and said she wanted to make a jump and her roomate said I could help. She took the course and made one static line (1980). I'd been in the sport for almost seven years when we got engaged, which is where a lot of people burn out or just move on anyway. I sort of did both, she never asked me to quit. We married and had two kids, who are teenagers now, the oldest one is almost twenty. Finally, last year, after 22 years out, I came back. Wife and kids are happy I'm jumping again, they say I'm happier and not so grumpy. I have a life insurance policy I bought during the years out that is incontestable (they can't change it or deny coverage) as long as I keep up the premiums. Our finances aren't what we'd hope they'd be at this stage of life and I fret about sending the younger one to college in just four more years.

I try to balance jumping with living a real life off the dropzone as well. I'm a fairly conservative jumper, I use a Cypres, jump a Spectre and let it out just under 3 grand and keep my landings on the conservative side mostly. I want to make it to both girls' weddings, play with lots of grandkids, grow old with my wife, and make plenty of skydives along the way.

Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

[JoeyRamone 0]

I have 4 kids now. I have backed off jumping bigtime. I love the sport, the people and all the vibes but i have lost one to many friends in the past few years.

It is a numbers game, i fly a big ass canopy but it is the "other" people that bother me. I will do a few jumps this year but i will never jump like i did in the past.

[totalwreck 0]

Here's something else to consider. Determining the risk to your children by your skydiving includes more than just the chances of you bouncing. Parenting is necessarily a time-intensive activity; skydiving can be as well. Being there for your child means being hands-on and actively involved in his/her life. You will have to struggle throughout your child's childhood with finding the right level of time to devote to your jumping, and you may at times be frustrated by the fact that you cannot get to the DZ as often as before. Being a parent is a full-time job, but it will be the best and most important job you'll ever have. (I am not preaching here, nor suggesting that you would sacrifice quality time with your child. I'm just kind of thinking out loud.)

[JVig 0]

I have four kids. Their father is not very supportive, and many times has accused me of being selfish, putting my life on the line BUT...my children are VERY supportive. They love coming to the DZ with me. and are proud. They always tell me i can do it, when i doubt.
Insurance?? I have made sure mine covers skydiving and will add more eventually.
Jumping? I find myself conservative.....always with them in the back of my mind.

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Just remember.....if the world didn't suck, we'd all fall off.

[pccoder 0]

I have two children which I had prior to jumping. I feel like with the amount of child support I am paying every month it is my fate to continue paying all the way until they are grown up, so I don't feel like I will have to worry about a skydiving injury

PcCoder.net

[Mush 0]

I started jumping before I met my girlfriend, carried on, we had a boy 5 months ago & I haven't jumped since, he's my buzz.

That said, I know it won't be a long time before I'm back up, just making the most of him, he's just soooo cool
Plan to take a little time out with your baby, the first 3 months go way too fast & 3 months out of your skydiving lifestyle is nothing & you won't miss that much.