Soccer mom

[spotty_dog]

Tell me I'm not alone, or give me some tips and tricks?

Tonight was the first soccer practice night that I had to do chauffeuring and dinner all on my own. Dinner didn't get on the table until 7:30, kids didn't get in the bath until 8:15, and they are going to be a little late to bed and I still haven't started cleaning up from dinner. I paced around during practice in order to beef up my Fitbit steps and now I'm *wiped*.

Looking ahead, DH can help with 2-3 out of 6 days of activities, most weeks. I know I'm lucky to have even this much help, but oi! Calgon take me away!

(DS: "Mom, I did teeth, potty, jammies. Can I go to bed?" LOL. Guess I'd better go wash DD's hair before picture day tomorrow...)

[Pollyanna]

Ahhh, you've reached the extracurricularrs time of parenting. Yes, the time we all entered into saying, "my kid will only do one activity, we won't be ruled by extracurricularrs" and then you discover that even one activity takes a lot of damn time What happens here is quick meals, take out on the way home, frozen dinners, eggs in a cup, etc. Dishes? Ha! They rarely get done until the next day because everyone isn't in bed until after 10 and if Dh and I have a few minutes alone I'll be damned if either of us are going to be cleaning the kitchen.

You're not alone. I completely get it. And while it's rough, do it. Yes, sometimes you're eating dinner at the ballpark and you're sending your dusty kiddos to bed without a bath and then to school the next day but it is such a special and fun part of parenting. Enjoy those early morning soccer games with a huge blanket and cup of hot chocolate, get a good set of folding chairs and enjoy the journey. Careful of signing up to be team mom though

[ladymoreta]

Oh man, I'm with you... We have soccer and karate for DS and dance for DD. It's a lot! We had such a wonderful schedule of DH cooking supper, eating all together at the table, DH playing with the kids while I cleaned up, then getting them bathed and to bed by 8:00 or 8:30. I have a sinking feeling that's about to become pretty rare!

[spotty_dog]

Ahhh, you've reached the extracurricularrs time of parenting. Yes, the time we all entered into saying, "my kid will only do one activity, we won't be ruled by extracurricularrs" and then you discover that even one activity takes a lot of damn time What happens here is quick meals, take out on the way home, frozen dinners, eggs in a cup, etc. Dishes? Ha! They rarely get done until the next day because everyone isn't in bed until after 10 and if Dh and I have a few minutes alone I'll be damned if either of us are going to be cleaning the kitchen.

You're not alone. I completely get it. And while it's rough, do it. Yes, sometimes you're eating dinner at the ballpark and you're sending your dusty kiddos to bed without a bath and then to school the next day but it is such a special and fun part of parenting. Enjoy those early morning soccer games with a huge blanket and cup of hot chocolate, get a good set of folding chairs and enjoy the journey. Careful of signing up to be team mom though

LOL. I didn't even dare to step up and organize the other parents to bring snacks for game day. An experienced, Cub Scout Pack Leader mom took the reins on that one. But seriously! They have one sport and one other extracurricular each. How did this suddenly consume our lives?

[Deebs]

I'm the bad mom. I told DS he can't do Boy Scouts. In this area, the meetings are all centered around getting ready for camp outs. DH works a minimum of 2/4 weekends a month. I'm not willing to give him up with the rest of our family to take DS on a camp out. He's so upset with me, but WAY too much parental involvement is required for a solo mom of four. I'm only looking into activities that are at school, immediately after the school day or easy drop-off and pick-up.


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[SoonerTexan]

I signed up to be team mom for blast ball. Whoops!

It hasn't been too bad, though we are definitely the least "intense" team out of bunch. These are 3 and 4 year olds!!!

DH signed up to coach since his schedule is so awesome til Feb. he likes it but swears he is done after this because he can tell even t ball will be intense in this league...


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[spotty_dog]

I'm the bad mom. I told DS he can't do Boy Scouts. In this area, the meetings are all centered around getting ready for camp outs. DH works a minimum of 2/4 weekends a month. I'm not willing to give him up with the rest of our family to take DS on a camp out. He's so upset with me, but WAY too much parental involvement is required for a solo mom of four. I'm only looking into activities that are at school, immediately after the school day or easy drop-off and pick-up.

Boy Scouts is out for us for a number of reasons, but that's one of them. I refuse to commit to weekend stuff. Saturday games are bad enough, and karate is just so darned good for them both that I have to do the 25 minute drive. I can't do the 40 minutes to the dance class most of the other little girls do though. Just *can't*. One of my friends is married to a firefighter and I know she does the solo thing a lot, and her little girl goes there -- I'm frankly impressed.

[ladymoreta]

It hasn't been too bad, though we are definitely the least "intense" team out of bunch. These are 3 and 4 year olds!!!

DH signed up to coach since his schedule is so awesome til Feb. he likes it but swears he is done after this because he can tell even t ball will be intense in this league...

This is Texas... We take our sports seriously! Haha!

[spotty_dog]

Do you know what my activity schedule could use? A little more complication. >.< Today the dad of one of DD's classmates, nicest guy and his wife is someone I really want to get to know better, asked us if we could help them get their son to and from practice on Thursdays. I jumped at the chance to do them the favor (they have a first grader, a preschooler, and infant triplets...it's an all hands on deck situation!) And only after I agreed did I actually realize that either Tuesdays or Thursdays we are going to have a conflict between karate and soccer...and this week it's on Thursday. D'oh! I think something will work out but now I feel kind of dumb...I'll get the hang of this eventually!

[Flynn]

Your schedule will get crazier before it gets lighter but you will figure out what helps you manage everything.

A few things that help me....I keep a cooler of healthy snacks in my car ...cut up apples, fruit, frozen yogurt sticks, cheese, and pop chips plus water ...always have water! I also do a lot of crock pot cooking. That way when activities are done there is something hot waiting for you and most crock pot recipes I've found reheat wonderfully. Give up eating together and focus on eating healthy yummy stuff that makes kids smile! Sometimes we have dinner in the car on the way to stuff. It is what it is. Eating at 7:30 has never worked for us so sometimes we have two heavy snacks instead of one big dinner.

To save time I almost always have stuff in car at the bus stop (cleats, different shorts, mouthguards, etc.) and we get to practice a bit early and do homework in the car. There is less stress with the different transitions this way and I avoid a step. Our morning routine involves checking the family calendar and having what you need after school in the car, BEFORE you leave for the day.

Carpool! It's hard when you don't know anybody but as your kids get older you will find people you trust with kids that overlap with yours almost every season. You WILL run into the moms that try and suck you dry so it works out better for them every time. I have learned to spot them a mile away and have no problem saying no thank you to their enthusiastic but insincere offers to carpool.

Last but not least, let a few things go. At times we go to bed with grass stains on our knees AND we eat cereal for dinner. Oh well. I try to make compromises fun and not because "I'm just done for the day." If there is one cool thing about my 40s it's that I worry less about stuff that's mostly out of my control.

[spotty_dog]

Thanks for the advice!! Looking back I can see where I sounded worried. I can assure you though, even though I'm merely in my late 30s, I don't often sweat the small stuff. On nights DH is home, we push the limits on bedtime and ignore bath, no big deal. On nights he's not home, I prefer to have more structure to my evening so I can have them in bed on time and actually have a few minutes to myself before I start my cleaning routine at 9:30!

Last week went much better. I got better at the crock pot, and I gave up my stubborn insistence that I could do everything on my own -- I organized the schedule so that I the nights we had to be in two places at once landed on nights DH was home, and had him take one of the kids. This week has also been good for the same reasons. Next week will be a bit tougher, I think DD will end up late to her soccer practice one day, but we'll manage. The week after that we have exciting times like going straight from school, to the dentist, to soccer practice -- on a day DH works! Fun fun! It all works out in the end though.

[ladymoreta]

DD had to be late to dance on Tuesday, and DS will be late for soccer today. I think/hope everyone gets it. There's only so many places we can be at at once.

[spotty_dog]

And the season is over! And we survived! Not only that, but I find I am enjoying soccer so much I might...gulp...volunteer to coach. Maybe assistant coach. We'll see. Schedule conflicts will continue being an issue.

I'm nervous hearing about how kids as young as 10 are on the Select teams and travel teams and going over an hour away for games. I was hoping to wait until 12 or older for that stuff. I'm trying not to borrow trouble by worrying about it yet -- DS isn't overly skilled so I doubt he'll play up in age like some of these other kiddos have done...

[ladymoreta]

Jealous you guys are done! We have a double header next week, but we'll be out of town. Our game yesterday was cancelled due to rain (our fields flood with any amount of precipitation), so they may add on another week after next weekend. I'm so over soccer... Maybe it'd be better if we had a different team, but our coach almost never makes it to practices, and we cancel a lot of our practices at the last minute.