Plan Adult Time or Fall into a Rabbit Hole

Is it blasphemous to dread going to your kid’s practices (and games)?

Lesson #2: Plan Adult Time

Is this question a bit intense? Probably yes. However, I would bet my bank account that there is at least one mom laughing out loud, because she can relate. (On the other hand, there is also a die-hard sports mom who would unequivocally say YES, proudly and with great judgement.) I actually don’t mind the judgement at all. In fact, I welcome it. At this point, my kids are in middle school and I have grown to love going to their games. During the initial COVID quarantine, I even longed for them. I must say it took many years to arrive here. 

Both of my sons began playing organized sports at four years old. I mean we did almost everything available in my town, soccer, t-ball, little league, travel baseball, youth basketball, travel basketball, mommy and me swimming. At the time I can't quite recall what I think was worse…. But here’s a list of my most obvious gripes

  1. I was tired.
  2. My kids did not look very interested.
  3. I did not really want to make friends with other parents.
  4. My husband was WAY too enthusiastic about everything sports.

I know this list is very selfish. As time progresses, I promise to unpack this list with further explanation. Although I do think it is important to acknowledge that working and parenting is hard enough, add in kids’ sports and it can feel like there is no available time for anything else. I think it was difficult for me to hide my lack of joy at times. To be honest, I don’t think I ever actually dreaded the practice or games. I love my kids and was happy to support them in everything they did. I believe my real frustration was the time investment that I wasn’t prepared for. It gets super complicated when you have children on opposite schedules. I mean, your entire weekend is done before it begins. 

I would recommend anyone raising up a sports kid to plan their weeks out in advance, taking selfcare into account. I recognize there are varying degrees of participation. For us, travel sports became a thing pretty early on. When your children’s schedules begin to dictate your whole life, you must remember to care for yourself, however you see fit.