Hustle, bustle. Hurry up, quick. Why do we put ourselves under such stress and strain? I have four children, ages 4, 6, 8 and 12-two boys, two girls. Three are in school. That's three times the paperwork, school lunches, and homework. Three times the parent-teacher conferences, school functions, fundraisers, and school picture packages. Nevermind the costs, that's a lot of time and attention.
Add into that, sports and clubs. My three school-aged children also play Little League, each at a different age group. That's a lot of equipment, water bottles, practices and games... and a lot of coordination. In the practice season last year, we had just one night of the week without a practice. This year, we've been lucky enough to have two nights, spaced evenly apart. But somehow this year, I'm learning lessons that I've missed in the past years.
For starters, I'm beginning to really understand how important a schedule is to a single person, much less six of them! Since I was a teenager in middle school, I've always pushed to the absolute last minute that I could before getting out of bed in the morning to get ready for school. In fact, in high school in Ocean City, NJ, I lived just 3 blocks from my school. I had perfected this to the point where I needed to get up 13 minutes before school started. That was enough time to get a shower, brush my teeth, get dressed, and then eat breakfast on my 3 minute sprint to the school. That's dedication.
Sadly, nearly 20 years later, I haven't changed. I know that I can get up as late as 8 am and still have my kids dressed, fed, lunches packed, hair and teeth brushed and have them out of the door by 8:25 in order for them to make it to the opposite end of the street in time for the bus. So, needless to say, I'm not good about leaving myself plenty of time, or anyone else in my house for that matter. Things are crazy around here 85% of the time, and that percentage goes up during Little League season. Tomorrow is only opening day, and I've already come to grips with how badly we need a calendar and a schedule in this family!
Some people have suggested not letting them all play Little League, but I can't let one and not another play, so it's all or nothing. They all love it and it gets them outside and active, I can't say "no". Yes, it's crazy some days, trying to get the kids changed and loaded into the truck and over to the field, 15 minutes ago, but it's worth it because for all of the time that we put into practices and games, we do it together. In a family of six, attention frequently gets spread thin, so Little League is important for all of us, because each of our players individually gets the attention (although often divided) of the entire family as we sit nearby and cheer for them.
It may seem crazy now, but someday they'll remember it fondly and do it for their children too... I hope.
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