Does anyone else’s parents give then constant crap about throwing! My parents keep telling me to grow up because I’m 16! All I want Is to be sponsored and just work at the yoyo company doing a nice job and yoyoing for them!
What about your parents?!
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I’m 48 and my kids say the same thing to me… 
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Hahaha!!! That’s awesome!! 
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My dad just thinks the bearing is loud, oh and he thinks I yo-yo all the time. Well… I do.
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My dad thinks its pretty cool, he used to take me to contests and stuff before i started getting the train. My Mum hates it though, can’t yoyo near her ever…
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I’m a yoyo parent and I love when my kid yoyos! ;D
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Well I’m 16 and all my parents are thinking of is college and a job
Well, if your mindset is “all I want to do is get sponsored”, you might be a little too absorbed. Plus, working in the hobby is pretty tough, and isn’t cut out for everybody.
Regarding the parents, I’d just explain what it means to you. It’s a fun hobby that happens to be pretty rewarding, and certainly has one of the best communities I’ve ever had the pleasure of considering myself a part of. Lastly, I think it’s pretty safe to say that toys should neither be bound by age nor maturity. If worst comes to worst, just say that there’s worse things and people that you could be associating yourself with. Ask them if they’d rather have you be playing Xbox; even adults play that!
As for my family, they are supportive of my hobby. I have always been a hobbyist, so seeing me start yoyo was really nothing new, and came to appreciate it once I made it clear that it was very close to me. My brother and father even make it out to contests with me every once in a while, just to handg out and watch!
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I’m 33
Times my 12y daughter tells me to grow up everyday: 2
Times my EXWIFE tells me to grow up: everytime she hears a yoyo. whether im the one who threw it or not. If im not the one, she will call me. And I didnt start yoyoing untill 5 years after we were divorced.
My parents and brother think its cool as long as its a hobby
Times I hear it from people walking by at work everyday: at least once (but I get at least 10 lovin it and watchin)
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My mom thinks it’s really cool and will take me to contests and such when she can. She loves watching the contests and enjoys going to them. My dad doesn’t pay to much attention to it. He likes it he just never really talks about it or anything.
I dont mind my kids yoyoing and for good reason. It’s actually good for you if you aren’t yoyo only minded.
my mom hates the noise but my dad thinks its pretty cool.
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I guess I was lucky. It was my Dad who got me started and my Mom who pushed me to keep practicing my tricks. Now, I a bit older and everyone around me either supports it or keeps their comments to themselves.
Same age same problem
Yeah, your lucky. My parents probably wish I’d stop.
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my parents encouraged my yoyoing because it got me off of video games! 
(im13)
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Even if the price is justified, yoyoing is expensive if you collect throws.
Mod edit- please keep the discussion yo-yo oriented.
Jumping in late.
My first yoyo, after MONTHS of no success, the string finally broke to the point where I couldn’t tie a knot at the bottom anymore. Of course, I didn’t know how to string a yoyo, much less that yoyo strings wear. 1978, I was 7. Forgive me. I was caught during a period where I was trying to tie the string at the bottom again. Since it was broken, it was taken away.
Fast forward, I am married now, have kids. I re-discovered yoyo after a LONG break(2011). 2 of my kids got into it. My wife thinks I’m a dork. Yeah, well, look who is laughing now: I’ve turned her into one of us!
I type this while my 5.5 year old son is going through my expensive throws. Yes, CLYW’s, OD’s and other $100 and up stuff(some under)
The issue that you don’t get is we, as PARENTS, we get that you shouldn’t be one-sided/single-minded. It’s great to focus a lot of time and attention to a hobby. It’s when they think it’s an obsession that it causes concern.
I’m gonna go through this myself. My 5.5 year old son LOVES the yoyo. I bet in a year I’ll be begging him to show ME tricks. He has a throw set up for 5A and can USE IT. He’s throwing and catching and binding 4A. He’s getting good at 1A, not as good as me yet, but the timer is ticking!! I’m gonna have to deal with this stuff with him.
I found out today his status in kindergarten: He was role model student. Well behaved, attentive, a top reader, good at math, good manners, polite, kind and caring. The other students want to be like him. The teachers were blown away. I suppose it didn’t help he wow’ed them with yoyo stuff yesterday. He’s well socialized, loves performing with the yoyo. I figure, right now at least, he’s got a good balance. Good in school, good as a person and enjoys the yoyo and other sports too. As long as he stays on this path, I have little to worry about.
Balance. Balance stuff out. We as parents don’t always see the whole picture, especially when you turn into teenages and you start hiding part of the picture. And don’t think we aren’t “skilled” either. I have a PBX that I can wire into the house and log all incoming and outgoing calls, by date, time and length. I have a proxy installed, I can log any and every packet coming in and out of my network. I also have an industrial grade firewall and I can block anything I feel like blocking. If I need to, I can easily get whatever equipment I want or need to monitor cell phone calls and data. I got enough friends in all the right places that I can get whatever information I want, whenever I want it. I have made amazing contacts in entertainment and communications. I’m hooked up like a mo-fo and I deal with people who ALSO have kids.
Sorry, tangent.
Just keep a balance. I mean, I’d rather you throw the yo than do something stupid like drugs or smoking or hanging out with luzers(I mean real luzers, people with no motivation and just barely get by). I hung out with the wrong crowd, so I get the general mindset of people who yoyo. And don’t let me imply the “wrong crowd” is a bad thing. Yeah, there the non-mainstream crowd, which yoyo players typically are a part of. It’s a large group, it’s actually more of a majority. This should not be confuse with the “bad crowd”, which most people mistake for the “wrong crowd”.
This should speak wonders:
My wife is COOL with the yoyo thing. She LOVES the fact the kids go to contests with me. She likes the people I have met in the yoyo community. On the other hand, she HATES the people I work with in the entertainment community, but that’s not surprising considering the high D-bag ratio. She also doesn’t understand the data comm community.
Back to yoyo:
Look, bottom line is that with me, the yoyo has re-ignited my creativity. The downside is that I don’t get to apply it how I’d like to, with, say, songwriting. Why? It’s too much gear to set up. Still, I need a creative outlet. Or at least an outlet. My brain is being engaged in a good way, I feel more alert and energized. If this is happening for me, clearly my boy is having such benefits as well and he’s directing it properly in school.
Used properly, the yoyo is like any other tool. It can be used for good or for bad, it’s up to the person with the tool.
Fortunately, I’m a parent in this whole thing too. I get it. Maybe your parents need to talk to the parents of other throwers, especially when those parents throw too. Thank goodness my kids aren’t into Olympic level competition in those sports, where I’m driving 5 hours a day for training and practice. Gas prices are outrageous!
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My parents hate me yoyoing and want me to stop, and I use my own money to buy them. The most throws I’ve had at 1 time was about 4 (that were mine that I bought).
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my parents too! i just buy my yoyo with my own money and they had no idea at all that i still playing yoyo! 