Telling your family

[dharma1976 0]

Quote

Quote

Don't tell them until you know it's something you want to do for a very long time.

Ah, but that way you run the risk of them finding out when they discover you're in hospital with a couple of broken bones.

I didnt tell my mom I had broken myself until like 5 days after :-P

jsut didnt feel like dealing with the noise until I had filled the scrip....

Dave

http://www.skyjunky.com

CSpenceFLY - I can't believe the number of people willing to bet their life on someone else doing the right thing.

[psipike02 0]

It depends on your family and their characteristics. With mine, my dad is very chill about alot of stuff I do, he just prays alot for me...haha...but he was cool about it. My stepmom was a little concerned, but saw how happy it made me, so she was ok. Notice...ok...it wasn't until I actually sat down with them and talked about all the safety precautions and brought them to the DZ to meet everyone, that they got better. They're also coming out this summer to actually watch me jump, so hopefully it'll be even better.

My real mom, however, i have promised to never call her before my jumps, only after. At first, she didn't like it at all and it took everything in my power to convince her to pay for one of my AFF jumps for my birthday this past summer. Her words, "I can't imagine my baby falling thousands of feet through the sky at hundreds of miles an hour."

It's taken time, but be patient. Definately don't force it in their faces, or they may never accept it. My mom has agreed to try out the wind tunnel and come fly with me in there (and that is a big step for her if you knew her). But she's gotten a little better, not much, but she doesn't yell and scream anymore now

But as I said, IMO be patient. Bring it up slowly and periodically. If you have to, go to them one by one, don't do it in a group setting, as that just won't work in your favor. But give it time and be persistant, and after a while, i'm sure they will understand....

And if that doesnt work, a Trip to the DZ ALWAYS works....at least from what I've seen..

Puttin' some stank on it.

----Hellfish #707----

[flygirl719 0]

It took me 10 years to finally get to do a tandem and I had no idea I'd actually want to get into the sport, so it wasn't a big deal at first.

I imediately knew I wanted to become a skydiver. My parents already thought I was a nut case, so they weren't suprised, but they did their best to discourage me. It took me a while to stop being on the defensive and to realize that it is ONLY because they are scared to death.

They continued to harp on me until I finally said that they were tainting my experience and if they wanted to be part of my life then they have to accept me skydiving because it has pretty much taken over it...I also asked them to educate themselves before they continued to knock it. I sent them to USPA.org.

They are getting better with every conversation, but it's still too new and I can tell they still don't want to talk about it. So, I tread lightly and always tell them that it's "safety first" during any conversation. Needless to say... I don't talk to my parents quite as much these days.

[pchapman 262]

There have been good posts about the "dealing with danger" aspect -- such as what all is covered in skydiving training, and how one is trying to act in an informed, responsible and safe manner.

Another aspect is to address the "why would one want to jump out of airplanes?" issue. It can be a photogenic sport so for me it helped to show videos to friends & relatives. One could pick something well shot and edited, showing beautiful skies, people having fun in the air, nothing too extreme or filled with skydivers acting like maniacs. After seeing videos, I've had little old ladies say they now understand why I skydive.

[crotalus01 0]

hehe....my dad was totally cool with it, but my mom swore up and down she would nevereverever come to the DZ if i was jumping. about a year later she did come out, and damned if mystepfather didnt do a tandem and then sign up for AFF
now she has TWO skydivers to worry about
seriously though, she chilled a bit around my 10th or so jump. i guess she figured if i had lived through it for 10 jumps the gear must usually work. one thing though - i have never bullshitted my folks about the dangers involved. it just wouldnt be fair.

As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD...

[Andy9o8 0]

Quote

Don't tell them anything. They don't get it. They never will. You can show them the videos, tell them the stats and talk until you are blue in the face and they will STILL take the word of a friend, who had a cousin, who had an uncle, who had a brother, who had an army buddy, who had a guy who knew someone that went jumping and some awful thing happened. It's a game where you can't possibly win. The only positive move is not to play.

Every skydiver should carve this onto a tablet of granite and mount in on the living room wall.

[NWFlyer 2]

My dad recommended I quit when I was struggling early in my student progression. He was very cool about it - he basically said "I know you probably don't want your old man telling you what to do, but I'm going to recommend it anyway."

I wrote him back and outlined all the reasons I was jumping, which are the reasons I continue to jump today. We agreed to disagree at that point.

Well, since then they've been neutral to supportive. They've congratulated me on milestone jumps. They've listened to my stories of visiting other DZs, and doing crazy jumps. We had a heart-to-heart talk when a jumper at my dropzone died in a landing accident and I explained why I would jump the next day.

Your parents may or may not come around, they may or may not ever understand, but I'm not a believer in just shutting down dialogue, unless it becomes the only way you can maintain the rest of your relationship.

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

[ChrisL 2]

Quote

they still appear to view it as a sport for people with a death wish.

Educate them as best you can, and then do what you are going to do.

If they refuse to be educated, theres nothing you can do.

__

My mighty steed

[lisamariewillbe 1]

I could care less what my family thinks about me skydiving, I dont tell them how to live and dont expect them to give me permission. I tell my mother and sister about the dangers, when and how I screw up , and they know who is to do my ash dive if it ever came to that. I would rather straight up tell them I suck and if I suck bad enough I may just die doing this. I do not live my life for my parents, I live my life for God, my kids and myself.

Sudsy Fist: i don't think i'd ever say this
Sudsy Fist: but you're looking damn sudsydoable in this

[meistwer 0]

Tell them that you have changed your mind and now you wanna do BASE.... They'll let you do your skydiving



Rob

[brianfry713 0]

That's what I did. I did one jump 8 years ago and then took a 6 year break due to lack of $. I waited for about a year before I told my parents I was jumping again because I already knew how they felt about it. At one point during the conversation, my mom asked me "Why don't you just go jump off a bridge", I said "okay, I'm doing that next weekend". Now skydiving doesn't seem as bad to them anymore.

BASE 1224, Senior Parachute Rigger, CPL ASEL IA, AGI, IGI
USPA Coach & UPT Tandem Instructor, PRO, Altimaster Field Support Representative

[DiscoStu 0]

I never told my family for my first tandem. After that I told my Sister and Dad seperately and they both agreed with me it was best not to tell my mum until a few jumps in. After 5 or so jumps I told my mum. She did the pretend to be fine with it but I know she was pissed off and couldn’t do anything as I had already done some jumps and prepaid for the course. On my last AFF stage she came out to the DZ and after that her perspective changed on skydiving. Seeing all those canopies open throughout the day eased her fears, plus she spoke to some other jumpers and I think was surprised they weren’t crazy suicidal pysco’s who needed counselling. Now she wants to see as many videos of my jumps as she can (it's actually getting annoying). She is also visiting me this weekend and is asking if she can head out to the DZ with me. I think this is proof taking them out to the DZ and showing them good safe fun videos will help put their mind at ease. If it worked on my mum(hates planes and heights) I am sure it would work on the majority of parents.

[bob.dino 0]

Quote

She is also visiting me this weekend and is asking if she can head out to he DZ with me.

Tandem?

[peckerhead 0]

I know a mate who has been jumping for 30 years and he has never told his family.

I think that is the way to go. Whuffos will never get it and they will always think you are crazy and trying to kill yourself. Perfectly good plane, blah, blah, blah.

I have been jumping for 25 years and I still scare my mother. She keeps asking when I will stop. She would be so much happier if she did not know.

She does not care about my trophies and wings and videos and pictures and patches. She is very proud but does not know why I still can't stop. She is afraid I will bounce and leave my boys without a father.

For no apparent reason......

Do your self a favor, tell them you play golf on weekends.