Late Soccer
C started on our community soccer team. A recreational league, no big deal right? Except practices are at 7 pm and have been going until at least 8:30 pm, Tuesday through Thursday.
I am not used to this disruption in our evening routine. Unfortunately (?), he really loves it. I had asked if it was permissible to drop off and the coach said . . . no. He’s an excellent coach – definitely on the intense side, but very engaging. I might try to ask again when the kids are more used to the routine. OR see if I can find a family on the list that wants to trade off being the sideline parent in charge of both kids.
As of now, Josh / myself / our nanny will try to split the days but man – it’s dark out there and this is in the middle of my typical bedtime routine with all 3!
Full Focus BINDER
Well this is kind of exciting! I have a special place in my heart for the Full Focus planner. Some people don’t love every section and now – they have a binder so can cherrypick and add blank extras!
I will be getting one to review and will share details. But they are available for sale now and I do have an affiliate link and code that will give you 10% off – see below!
- LINK: https://glnk.io/vrm7/shubox-plans
- DISCOUNT CODE: SARAH10
Running Friend!!
I made a running friend! On the (sort of) minus side, she’s about 10x faster than me (former collegiate runner who can run a local 5K and just . . .win). On the plus side, she’s super nice and doesn’t mind running at my slower pace for weekly runs. Her sluggish warmup = my tempo 🙂
I haven’t run with anyone in years, and it was really nice. I had a BRF (Best Running Friend) in North Carolina and it definitely made running more fun AND she helped me get faster. You share lots of stuff when you are stuck on a long run together!
Time Change
I’m sure that if one searches this blog hard enough, you will find posts ranting about the time change. Guess what? I think my kids have finally reached the stage where it’s not so terrible. Hooray! Yesterday G did wake up slightly early but she just went to the couch on her own for a bit – I found her there when I returned from my run at ~6:30!
And finally:
Sigh. NICOLE:
We are under Tropical Storm warning and Hurricane watch and I am 98% sure the kids will have no school Wednesday. I hope they don’t cancel 2 days’ worth at once the way they did with the last storm (for the second day, the weather was PERFECT and there was zero reason the kids couldn’t be in school . . .).
Sad we are having to contend with so many of these, and so late! It does feel a bit apocalyptic.
AND: VOTE! I voted by mail 🙂
15 Comments
Ah, yes… the kids activities times can become very challenging as they get more involved. I wouldn’t be surprised if C ends up wanting to go the more competitive/ club route too eventually- sounds like he’s pretty sporty! Last night one of mine had practice from 7:30-8:45, and the other from 7-8:30, in different places, of course. Now with it dark early too, leaving for practice at 7:15 p.m. feels like heading out into the depths of the world at midnight. lol. We are definitely in the “drop your kids” off stage now though- no parents ever stay anymore, thank god. An 8:30/8:45 end time does make it VERY difficult to get people in bed at a decent hour though, for sure.
My 15 yo plays soccer. In the Fall he plays on the school team which is sooooo easy. In the winter and spring he plays on a travel league try-outs for that are this week from 9-10 p.m.!!! It’s all about field time. That said I can’t believe you can’t drop him off especially for something that is 3 nights a week!
Tiny Boy is also going to begin an activity that will go until 830 (and one week, as late as 930). Although this isn’t past sleep time, it’s in the bedtime routine window and will be disruptive. We will have a convo about how to do this….my expectations. That said he’s older than C and also my only kid in the house… Carpool seems like great plan if you can do that
… you can’t drop off for soccer? I’m so sorry. That is nuts. How are parents of multiple children supposed to manage that? Dropping off is one of the best parts of having older kids!
I guess they just assume everyone must have two parents who are home by then … or only one kid
I guess I just think it’s absurd for them to assume that a parent can be available for the entire practice time not just once a week (I mean, okay) but multiple times a week. That’s a much bigger commitment for the entire family vs just for the kid.
Oh I agree!!!!
Nobody assumes anyone has only one kid, I assure you. Sometimes it’s better just to do what you want and ask for forgiveness if not allowed. Unclear if this is one of this situations, but parents were dropping off 6yo at swimming when we were doing that. Agree that the activities are likely not going to get any easier to schlep to for you guys.
Running friends are the best! I made a new running friend this fall who is similarly MUCH faster than me. Her easy shakeout runs are like me sprinting, but it’s been great for my fitness and such a mood boost to have had 45min of social time before 6:30am. Happy for you!
Wow. We could not make that work. Crazy you can’t drop off but even having to run back out to pick up at 8:30 would be disruptive because I would have to bring my younger one at least some of the time. I have generally not allowed many activities on weeknights, and I feel like the one we have ending at 6:30 is incredibly disruptive!
I’d be interested in hearing your thinking about why you feel this is worth it. C really wants to do it/needs the activity? The kid I allow weeknight activities for has ADHD and frankly needs it but I miss the days we were just home relaxing. My other kid needs more downtime and likes to be doing his own things at home so it’s a real balance for us.
Good question. I do think he benefits from being very physically active. And I make Annabel’s gymnastics and theater work so i would feel bad not letting him try it. He did not make the school team (no third graders did!) but if he gets into that next year it would be way logistically easier.
My kids are 3,5 and 5. They are taking an after school skate class (skateboarding, bike riding, …) on Monday. The skate class trainers pick up the kids directly from school and take them to the skate park. I then only pick up my kids after skate class. I haven’t heard of any soccer team where parents are forced to stay (or any other hobby for that matter). Even when the kids are much younger than your son. The contrary is true, often you’re not allowed to stay as a parent! Especially soccer moms/dads have a bad reputation for being overly involved around here. 🙂 Maybe it’s a cultural thing as I’m from Western Europe?!
Oh I’m sure it’s a cultural thing! Dance, gymnastics and tennis thankfully do not require a parent to stay. I wonder if it’s different bc soccer is community with volunteer coaches and they don’t want liability or responsibility ? You do pay for it but it’s much less expensive than a lot of the other activities I mentioned.
Our soccer league is the same for kids under 11, maybe? There is supposed to be an adult on the sidelines the whole time. Sigh.
Hope everything goes okay with the storm and it loses speed and force long before it reaches you.
And yes – I think my kids are finally at an age where DST impacts them…but the impact of their impact on me is much less. As in – yes it screws up their sleep, but if they wake up early they just putter around in their rooms quietly until the regular time to get up. Hallelujah because I used to dread the time change SO much!
Re DST, I will say that this year I moved from a state in Australia with daylight savings to one without it. And without it, it is now light at 4.50 am! As in BRIGHT sunlight at 5am. So kids are all awake then. If we had daylight savings this would be one hour later which seems much more reasonable. So I really miss it, despite the disruption of the time change with kids.