Sports on Our weekends... what do you do?
My husband and I live an hour away from BM. BM put SD6 in swimming, soccer and hockey. After we pick SD6 up on Friday (1 hour to get her, and 1 hour to get her home) get her homework done, get her in the shower, and to bed. She has hockey at 8:30am, which means she has to get up at 6am to eat, and drive 1 hour to practice. Then they have to hang out for the next sport to start, and go to that, and drive another hour home. All this means that after we get her back home and put her to bed only to wake up and go to hockey again, she has to go home.
Is this normal for a 6 year old? What do you guys do? There isn't any time for my husband to spend with SD6, and we spend 9.00 in gas round trip to get her. It's so expensive and hard to get her to all her events. SD would rather relax at our house and do things with us, than run and run to all the stuff she has to get to.
What we were thinking of doing is picking her up on Saturday after a sport (watching her even of course), and not taking to things on Sunday morning so my husband can take her to church and hang out with her and take her home at her normal time. IF SD isn't too crushed to miss one thing on Sunday morning. Then he would have Sunday to spend with her, since Saturday and Friday nights are totally shot.
Thoughts?
I think it's important for
I think it's important for kids to have sports and to be involved; I don't think dad's desire to spend time with the kid should trump that.
That being said, we have a similar problem. Our BM also lives an hour + away, and has enrolled skids in a sport at her house. Skids are with us every Saturday. So every Saturday, we'd have to drive down there and back for them to participate. DH said no way.
We've enrolled them in activities that are closer to our home (halfway between ours and BM's house). I don't think your skid needs 3 activities .. that just seems excessive. If I were your DH, I would pick one sport to support and get SD to/from that one each week.
^^^^Agree!
^^^^Agree!
Sd 6 at my end has 1 maybe 2
Sd 6 at my end has 1 maybe 2 activities.... I personally think anything more just encourages a child to have no focus and be hyperactive. When I first came along the excuse was she needs that she always has to be doing something. ... No she needs to get out from behind the tv and learn how to play and use her imagination.!
Besides that way to many activities pick one and take her to it tough luck for BM registering sd without consulting dad.
My fist thought is that is
My fist thought is that is way too much for a 6yr old to be in. One sport at a time. I think that if there is a game on Saturday's that you guys should ensure she attends on your weekends but doing nothing but shuttling around to activities is no good for you guys or her.
Tell BM that you are willing to take on the responsibility of one activity from this point further.
The American Pediatric
The American Pediatric Association encourages parents to have their child enrolled in only 1 sport a quarter (the amount of time they spend in practice and games should not exceed their age), they suggest three months a year without any sport activity, time to just be a kid. Excessive sports prevents children from developing independence, actually makes developing social skills and imagination more challenging, and the more sports a child is involved in leaves them at risk of damaging growth plates and increases risk for spinal disease.