I love sports. I grew up playing several different sports. I grew up in a sports family. At the dinner table, my dad would drill us on game situations so we would know without a doubt when we were in that situation what we were doing. So when my kids came along and got old enough to start playing sports, I was excited. There was so much to try! But there was a conflict.
I love sports, but I also love downtime. I love being at home. I love having unstructured rest and playtime. I don’t love being on the go all the time. I don’t love having commitments each night. I prefer a good balance with a strong lean towards under-committing versus over-committing.
Between three kids and all the sports and other activities, the nights can quickly get taken away. The weekends get filled. So after our first foray into this, all while still trying to balance parenting three children, special needs, and regular life, I was done-zo. Could not do it anymore. We needed early bedtimes. We needed nap times. We needed more structure at home and less running around. So we took a break.
In 2019, we dipped our toes back into sports and we loved it so much that our dip became a dive. We’ve seen such great progress and qualities come out in our kids through sports. We’ve seen discipline start to develop. We’ve seen determination be born. We’ve seen the confidence that comes from gaining skills that may seem so simple to some kids but were way scary to one of ours. We’ve seen new friendships develop. We’ve seen responsibility start to emerge. We’ve seen time management start to cross their minds as they figure how they do the sport and the homework.
My kids are still really young, so I’m not an expert on this, but I will say that this year has been really fun watching them grow and develop more as little people in activities that they really love. Whether it’s a sport or a club that my kids are loving, this year I have found great value in the running around and packing out our schedule a little bit more because of the positive effects the activities are having on my children.
So even if I feel stressed by it some times, I know that it’s worth it. For this season, as my kids are growing into more of their own people and learning from coaches who are instilling such great things in them, I love that we get to do this.
If you’re thinking you want to branch out into some activities but aren’t sure where to start, here have been some of our favorites so far:
Hockey — the Little Preds program at the Ice Arium is awesome! My kids really enjoyed learning to skate and the basics of play.
Gymnastics/Ninja Classes — we love, love gymnastics. My girls adore it. There are also amazing classes for boys as well as ninja classes that are offered around town.
Tennis — learning basics for a lifelong game.
Golf — just getting into golf. Have any tips for us?
Basketball/Baseball/Soccer — all so fun and any of them are fun to try with little kids. You never know which sport your kid will end up loving.
So I’d love to hear: what is your philosophy? Do you sign your kids up for stuff or are you more of an open schedule family?
