DrCavin said:
Next Saturday at this time, we will be running around looking for documents/id's that somehow managed to get put into the wrong bag
I bet someone will be waiting at the terminal by this time as well..
Hanover, I feel your pain w/activities. DD has swim team practice T/Th (ends this week
), softball games on Sunday/Th - had practice 3 times this week which wasn't scheduled, but Coach thought it would good for them. I help coach her team & they did need the extra practice
DS was doing karate on Mon/Weds, but that ended & looking to get him signed-up for something. It was crazy for about 2 months, got tired of eating on the run, doing homework at 9:00pm & trying to get them ready for bed..
In this area if your child has exceptional abilities in a sport, they will tell you that at about age 10 they only want them participating in that sport. IMO that is too early & I am not convinced that it is the way to do it. Anywho, that is a discussion we can have over an adult beverage sitting on the ship
DS8's baseball team is going to be playing for what will become the lead 1st place team tomorrow so his coach wants them to work extra on certain skills.
His league home page is
www.newoxfordjuniorbaseball.com. Not sure if their team pictures are up just yet, but he's on the Athletic's minor league team. Keegan (DS8) is #5. Then again, with all their hats on they look the same.
I know what you mean about eating on the run. I'd be embarrassed to count how many happy meal toys they've collected over the last couple years. We recycle over half of them because we're bursting at the seams as it is with all their toys these days. I finally started pre-making meals on the weekend to just heat up quick so we wouldn't have to be stuck with fast food. Seems like if I cook dinner before they practice, they get home and ask "what's for dinner" again. I have to have ds8 do his homework the minute he gets home from school. I've even refused to take him to practice until he does it. If he doesn't, he doesn't get to bed until 9:45 or later and that's just crazy.
There are many kids he plays with that play fall ball (baseball) or soccer year round. Their wrestling team also wants them wrestling 10 months out of the year and traveling all over...even different states.... for tournaments. Our pediatrician recommended when ds8 was 4 that we not "specialize" in anything due to overuse injuries. She said they were getting lots of kids with injuries, even needing surgery, from playing just one sport. I worry about burn out too. Some of the kids on their teams you can tell are only there because of their parents. He's really good at the 3 sports he plays, so as long as he enjoys them and wants to stick with them, we'll support him.
DS8 does an afterschool bowling league on Mondays. They have about 90 kids that get bussed to the local bowling alley for 2 games. He can even beats me! Anyhow, those are the only activities we allow him to do right now due to time (and sanity). We also want him to not have to pick and choose what practice/team he wants to go to each night. It would be one thing if it were once or twice a week, but with the commitment the league's expect, we are just sticking with the one main sport per season. I have friends who drive from one away game for soccer to another away game for baseball right afterwards for the same child. He may even pick up a 3rd sport this fall!
DS5 is finishing up his soccer season and just started practice for t-ball. Their first game is when we are gone on the cruise. He also has a couple day time activities like kindermusik, gymnastics and swimming at the YMCA, but those are one hour , one hour, and a 1/2 hour long once a week each. I wanted him to be able to get the opportunity to try them out before starting kindergarten in the fall. He goes to preschool 3 days a week for 2.5 hours. He loves to be busy and play with his friends. When DS8 was little we only did one activity (gymboree) at a time and pre- school 3 mornings a week because he preferred to play at home and go to playgroups. He still enjoys his down time and just free- playing. He wouldn't have handled more than that. DS5 also really benefits from the activities by being able to practice his speech (he has articulation difficulties).
Like I said in a previous post, if you don't start off around here as soon as they can possibly play, they end up really behind in their skills. A few of ds8's friends just started sports this year and some quit because they couldn't keep up. I find that really sad because they probably won't ever play later. DS8 started wrestling when he was in 2nd grade last year and was constantly up against kids that had been wrestling since they were 4 and really knew what they were doing. He still did very well (only lost twice all season), and even better this year, but he felt he didn't know half the moves they all did.
Well, I better get off this computer and go get ready for another day at the fields. We (team parents) were joking last night we should have pitched tents over night at the field! The kids and I will come home and cut the grass and go to MD to see grandparents for an early birthday dinner for ds8 since he won't be seeing them (HA HA) on his birthday next Saturday. DH is disc jockeying his last wedding before the cruise!
We will be on our way to the port this time next week!
. I am in complete stress mode now too. 
