Both of my kids have taken swimming lessons, and my oldest son (almost 4) had a blast with skating lessons last fall.
As we get closer to the elementary school years, I find myself wondering — when do we start our boys on sports teams?
I’m excited for our boys to play sports. I look forward to them learning about teamwork and having fun with friends. However, the thought of signing up for team sports makes me feel like I’m about to dive off a precipice. Is there any going back? Will my Saturdays be forever spent driving kids to practice, no longer the day we sleep late and stay in our jammies all morning?
I’m not sure our family is ready for a hectic sports schedule, but I wonder if we will ever be ready. I don’t want to wake up one day and find I have a fifth grader and a third grader who don’t know how to play baseball or basketball.
For that matter, I have the same struggle with any activity. Piano, for instance — I want my children to learn about music and have a good foundation, but when do I actually invest money and time into piano lessons and practice?
For today, I’m choosing to follow the path of peace and patience. For the moment, at least, we’ll focus on family swim dates at the Y and playing some backyard baseball. But I know I’ll be back at the precipice again, wondering when to take a risk and jump.
Has your family entered the world of sports and extra-curriculars? Do you have any advice? Any regrets? I’d love to hear stories from those who’ve already taken the plunge.
Maison was in a soccer league last summer. There was one practice every Tuesday and a game every Sunday. It wasn’t too bad. We weren’t there all day. Just an hr each time. We did kind if start wanting our Sundays back and dragging the kids out to the practice every Tuesday and usually grabbing food out or rushing home and trying to quickly fix spaghetti with everyone starving got old quick. But I will say that Maison greatly improved over the season and she had a lot of fun. We did not continue in the fall though when school started up again. With school, homework, and her other activities it would be too much for us. I don’t want to be rushing around wih something scheduled every single day of the week. Maison takes piano lessons once a week (she started at 3 but it was too early-she started again at 6 and that was a good age for her), does two hrs of gymnastics (Vonda takes one hr of gymnastics a week too), and is in Girl Scouts. That’s definitely our limit. She asked to do something else, but I told her she’d have to give up one of the other activities-and that she couldn’t choose piano (haha). We are signing her up for t-ball this summer. It’s fun to go to the games and cheer her on. But if you ask me again in the middle of July, I may be singing a different tune! Don’t know if any of that info helps, but there you go! 🙂
Well, we haven’t gotten into the organized sports yet because Sean is only 2, but I do know with piano my mom usually didn’t like to start kids with formal lessons until they were around 7.
Thanks for weighing in, friends! I saw some Mite hockey players during intermission at the Preds game on Saturday, and I’ll admit I became antsy to see Ian in hockey gear. One day at a time!
I’m glad to see you have so many thoughtful readers. As a teacher of 5th graders who are already over-tired and over booked, who deal with adult leaders who should not be working with kids, and crazy pressure that come with some activities (whether music, dnce, or sports) I often find myself asking…What happened to fun? Most of my students can’t invent fun. They never had the chance to expand those skills. Too early they were a part of an organization that promotes following directions and playing your part with a team….EXCELLENT GOALS. My only concern is that kids may be getting into organzed, serious team activities too early. I’m glad to hear that this new generation of parents are asking not necessarily if…but when, because you all are right, you can’t go back and reclaim the years of no homework, no team practices and games, that allow for invention, exploration, learning to invent and probelm-solve together with freinds (and minimal direction from adults), and learning to play sports—for the fun of it!
Lastly, I’m thankful that there are leagues…and then there are leagues. Some are more about fun and less about wins…church, Y, community, etc.
Keep it up, Young Parents! You are doing an awesome job. I’m excited for your kids and thankful – already- for the adults they will be!