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The last line is interesting to me - I've not really ever stayed at a practice (games, yes) once the kids got above a certain age (5? 6?). Maybe this is a sign I've been neglecting the duties of a Good Soccer Mom
IME most parents stay when the kids are about 5-7 years old. After that it trails off. If they stay, they are in the car, not sitting on the sidelines. But, ya, most parents stay those first few years. Unfortunately, sometimes practice is to far from home to make it worthwhile to leave and go back. If you were carpooling, however...
My son started playing T-ball at 5. He absolutely loved it. There were 2 practices of 1 and 1/2 hours a week and one game on Saturday. The practices were at 5:30 p.m and the game usually started between 9 and 10 am. Keep in mind, this is Phoenix, so the weather was a major factor in terms of time and the heat factor because he played in a fall league which started in September and here it could still be in the 90's in the afternoon but cooled off quickly in the evening. He has played baseball every year since and is now a sophomore in college and still plays on his college club team. The hardest schedule he had was in high school. He played JV and Varsity baseball, Varsity bowling team, Marching, Concert and Jazz Band. From freshman to senior year he was at school Monday through Friday from 6:30 am to 6:00 p.m. with practice and games. They even had to go 4 weeks during the summer for marching band camp. And then when school started they would have to do a game or performance 2 to 3 nights a week and sometimes weekends too during the school year. We did not always make his games and missed a few performances because of work or commitments, but he understood that. And we did not feel guilty for missing...such is life.
My point to the OP is..... we observed our son and kept involved in his life in order to determine if he and we were taking too much on. In his freshman and sophomore year he wanted to do other sports in addition to baseball and band, but we felt it was too much so we said no. He got over it. He did so well academically that his junior and sophomore year we trusted him to to take on more....and he did handle it admirably. He did not get an athletic scholarship to college but he was in AP classes and maintained excellent grades so he got an academic scholarship. It pays for about 75% of his college costs and he deserves it. So just go with the flow....listen to your kids opinion, but still be a parental decision maker and things will work out! When it stops being fun for everyone then make changes and compromises. There is nothing wrong with that.
That doesn't sound right. Cross country is typically a fall sport and softball is typically a spring sport. Maybe she won't be doing them at the same time.
PE is required in most schools so she has to take it at some point. My kids all opted to take their PE credits as freshmen to get it out of the way. That's probably what your neighbor is doing.
Quite possibly I got the wrong afterschool sport, or perhaps we have different seasons to the norm, it being Arizona with unusual seasonal restrictions to much of the US.
Our HS PE credit is one hour, so two semesters. Yes, taking it early seems a good plan, according to other parents - my son is going to do one semester each in 9th and 10th grade.
She seemed very bubbly and happy about what's going to be a 12 hour day for her, with the afternoon sport at least being done in 115 degree temps in August, followed by presumably 1-2 hours homework. The energy of youth...
Quite possibly I got the wrong afterschool sport, or perhaps we have different seasons to the norm, it being Arizona with unusual seasonal restrictions to much of the US.
Our HS PE credit is one hour, so two semesters. Yes, taking it early seems a good plan, according to other parents - my son is going to do one semester each in 9th and 10th grade.
She seemed very bubbly and happy about what's going to be a 12 hour day for her, with the afternoon sport at least being done in 115 degree temps in August, followed by presumably 1-2 hours homework. The energy of youth...
My my youngest is going into 10th grade and he plays sports that require 12 hour days, also in the heat yet he thrives on that schedule. He is an exceptional student. It's not something I would want for myself but he really loves it. As long as he is happy and doing well in school I am ok with it. Mine is a 3 sport athlete so he does it throughout the entire school year.
My oldest is in college and he was also a 3 sport athlete in HS. He only plays one sport in college (D3). He is doing very well in college and being on a team really helped him adjust to college life. I see a lot of parents come on this forum and force sports onto their kids. In those cases I don't think it is good for the kids. However, for kids who really thrive on sports it can be beneficial for them.
Last year DS was in kindergarten and we had a rude awakening to the way organized sports are run in our new suburban idyll. It turns out that if you want your kid to play a sport at the age of FIVE you are committing to TWO hour-long weekly practices and one game a weekend that can be up to an hour away that starts at 8:30am.
Is this normal? It seems excessive with a capital X to me but I know nothing. For our family it was too much, just too much for a kid just starting fullday school life who only months before had napped daily. However, since there is such a push in this community I am worried that once he is able to (or wants to) pursue a sport he will be emotionally unable to deal with the fact that he is not as good as the kids who have been playing (3x A WEEK!!) since they were 4 and he'll give up.
(Keep in mind that this is per sport, so a kid on spring Tball and spring soccer would be 4 practices and two games a week.)
welcome to the world of kid sports. But it really hasn't changed that much: kids who swim competitively even at 5 and 6 practice daily.
Now, as for his not being as good as other kids, I have a theory: if a kid has talent it will show up regardless as to whether he/she starts a sport at 5 or 8 or whatever. If you really do not want him competing too early in life, just don't worry about it. If he ends up not being as good as other kids, and it is simply because of lack of experience he will improve fast. If he really isn't good at something, that is life. We all have to accept, we can't be good at everything. BTW one of our kids did start swimming at 6. Our great granddaughter started soccer at 5. She is now 8 and is good, but not great. I think you are worrying too much about him. Things have a way of working out. It is better to keep him busy than let him veg on a computer all day. The schedule you are talking about isn't excessive at all.
When my kids were that age I actually preferred the practices over the games. The teams usually have 2 or 3 coaches (often I was one of them) and it was during the practices where the kids would actually learn the rules of the game and practice on their skills. At 5 years of age, kids are too young to be getting together with neighborhood kids to play sports, so outside of a team practice (or game) they really aren't participating a whole lot in the sport. The schedule sounds just right to me.
Usually we just create schedules among the parents, as in 'Esmerelda's mom is the Tuesday driver, Imogen's mom does Wednesdays, and Arabella's does Fridays." That way no one's getting snubbed or feels like they're being used for rides. Like you said, it can be stressful and busy so it's certainly a consideration to make...
The last line is interesting to me - I've not really ever stayed at a practice (games, yes) once the kids got above a certain age (5? 6?). Maybe this is a sign I've been neglecting the duties of a Good Soccer Mom
Say you're Esmerelda's mom. On Thursday night, Arabella's mom calls you and says, "Could you drive tomorrow? I have to take my cat to the vet. He's had a hairball problem for three months and the vet can take him tomorrow right at the time I have to drive the kids and I don't want him to wait over the weekend." OR, you call Imogen's mom and say, "My father died and we're leaving town Monday. Do you think you could pick up Arabella on Tuesday?" Mom Imogen says, "Well, I have a golf date arranged for Wednesday, so I don't think so". You get frustrated and say, "Fine. I'm not going to be here." A version of the latter actually happened to me.
Say you're Esmerelda's mom. On Thursday night, Arabella's mom calls you and says, "Could you drive tomorrow? I have to take my cat to the vet. He's had a hairball problem for three months and the vet can take him tomorrow right at the time I have to drive the kids and I don't want him to wait over the weekend." OR, you call Imogen's mom and say, "My father died and we're leaving town Monday. Do you think you could pick up Arabella on Tuesday?" Mom Imogen says, "Well, I have a golf date arranged for Wednesday, so I don't think so". You get frustrated and say, "Fine. I'm not going to be here." A version of the latter actually happened to me.
I was a coach and lost my foundation to my house and then my mom died the following week. Another mom called wanting to know how her daughter was going to get to practices and games while I went to my mother's services 13 hours away. She did not have a license or car. She lost it to drinking a few years prior. Third offense so that's 10 years loss of license.
What a mess!
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