Even with Just One Sport...

I don't know how people do it. We're friends with several families with 3 in sports and the husbands & wives basically divide and conquer when they can.
I have O. in O. sport and there are weeks we have 3 games! Phew!

Could you maybe arrange for a carpool with the kids' friends? Maybe a mom could pick him up one week and you pick up his friend the next. That way, you would have a lighter schedule every other week. Or if it's someone who lives close by, they would maybe even do it for a thank you and a small gift.

It is tough getting kids to sports practices, making sure someone is at every game to cheer on yoru little champion, getting the kids fed, homework done, little ones entertained, etc. There were times I wondered if all this activitiy was a good thing - and to the extent they the child is learning something (teamwork, how to win or lose gracefully, etc.) it's a good thing. But so is family mealtime - and it's always this crazy balance. I remember seeing a family eating PBJ's in the car and changing clothes as the drove from music lessons to sports. I thoughth I'd never be one of those moms. Then one day I realized my son was changing out of football practice gear, into shorts & a T-shirt and eating a chicken sandwich as we drove to youth group... So much for oaths!

As your kids get older it will get more hectic because they'll one day be helping in Sunday school, have youth group to go to, participate in a sport, belong to an after school club, etc. The upside is that you know who your kids are hanging out with, you get to know their parents, the kids in sports are usually nice kids, etc. The downside is that you'll have hectic days and weeks.

We have a number of things that help us stay sane: Put EVERYTHING on the family calendar in the the kitchen (every practice, meeting, doctor's appintment, family gathering)(even the uniform jersey color for quick referenc) and also on my work blackberry (so none of my business appointments conflict with football or flagline). I make every attempt to cook multiple meals whenever I make a "real" meal. If I make meatballs or lemon chicken or whatever, I always make 2 or 3 times as much and freeze separate freezer bags for quick meals. I keep the gas grill close to the kitchen door so even in winter we will grill pork chops, burgers, chicken, steak... (healthy and easy to clean up after). When chicken cutlets are on sale I buy many packages, spray them with pam, season them with "montreal chicken spice" and grill them all. Then they go in freezer bags for quick meals on the run. Chicken cutlet on a burger roll with catsup or BBQ sauce, cut up and mixed with pasta & broth/tomato sauce & veggies (or on a salad for you). Use frozen veggies instaed of fresh (more nutrients believe it or not). Have tote bag prefilled and in your car with things like juice boxes, water bottle, granola bars, ziploc bags of nuts/dried fruit. You can have somehwhat healthy snacks if you plan & buy ahead. Also include things your little one will be amused with. You'll have to change it around to avoid his boredom. (think balls, books, puzzles, handheld video games, etc.) If you have a few mintues try to bag up carrots, peppers, etc. for the pre-dinner drive home when the kids are hungry - it's an easy way to get veggies into them!)

I'm still in this crazy phase (but with teenagers so I no longer have to entertain a little one) and I'm told that I'll look back on these busy, hectic days as some of the best times of my life - and I do believe there's some truth to that. So I try to really appreciate and savor these times. Use the time in the car as special times with the kids (they will tell you all kinds of things when you're in a car and not looking directly at them). As you begin to carpool you get to observe them in the dynamic with their friends and if you're quiet you get to hear even more of what goes on when they're not with you!

Take your vitamins, make sure to get sleep, don't worry about the uniforms being clean between every game (you eventually realize it's just not possible - although it's a lofty goal), make some friends with the other parents and relax about how clean the house is - or isn't. When you find yourself kicking stuff out of the way, instead of picking it up, as you head out the door for a soccer game you know it's official - you're a soccer mom. :o) It's not a bad thing.

I have a clone, 4 extra arms, and a 48 hour day ;)

I WISH.

Only my eldest daughter plays soccer, and that alone kills me. I'm secretly hoping my middle child doesn't want to play any sports, though I am trying to get both girls into Girl Scouts.

I have two boys, now middle school and high school, who play hockey (among other activities), which is one of the craziest sports of all in terms of schedules. My husband travels and works long hours so I am often on my own. I take it day by day and I've had moments where I've had to put post-it notes on my steering wheel with the schedule and I've driven to the wrong ice rink or the right ice rink at the wrong time. Makes for good stories at the high school graduation party? However, none of that started until they were older. Other than swimming lessons, my kids didn't get involved in organized sports or activities until at least kindergarten. Is your preschooler's activity something that he really needs or wants or could that be put on hold for now?

This isn't what you want to hear, but I have significantly limited my evening activities and obligations. I kept my monthly book club because I helped start the group 18 years ago and it is very important to me. I also have season tickets to a theater with a friend I used to work with, but that is only 4-6 x/year and I am lucky to make it to half of them. I say no to almost all evening social events, activities or other obligations. I've turned down requests to be on boards and committees that meet in the evening. I don't go to home sales parties although I actually enjoy those kinds of things. Even with those limitations I would never have been able to continue with my book club and theater without the help of grandparents and then carpools as the kids got older. Do you have grandparents nearby who would love to see the kids at their activities and could give you a night off? As the kids get older you just have to recognize you can't get to everything and rely on carpools, neighbors, etc.

I know a family who has 7 kids and 3 of them play hockey. I don't know how they do it, but the mom always seems much calmer and more relaxed than I am with my two! I guess it can be done. (-:

I spent nearly two decades with three different kids in three different counties at three different must see sporting events. 30k miles a year on my car, filled up the gas tank three times a week.

I traded in the van for a fast car and learned to tear up the highway!

tehehe

No idea HOW I did it in hindsight. And like you, they really only had one thing per season per kid. I think it was gymnastics that made it crazy, way more commitment then regular sports.

But NOW, I have to cook dinner every single night, nobody has anything. I don't think you're selfish for keeping your own activities at all. I do not miss those days!

:)

Lay it out and see who does what when. Maybe when there's a big conflict you pick the kid with the biggest game or you drop yoga class that week or otherwise make compromises to make it work. Maybe it's time to also look at your and DH's activities and see if you should pare down for the season. My SD does theatre and the auditions have already started. Once she's cast, it's pretty much daily for weeks. Sometimes friends bring her home and sometimes we just have to figure it out.

I've got a husband who works a lot, a 21 month old boy, and a 4 1/2 year old boy. I work part time just 2-3 days a week (middle of the night when everyone's asleep, since I have issues with insomnia anyway). Monday through Friday I babysit the neighbor children from 6:40-7:40am (just that overlap where the mom leaves for work and the dad is getting home from work). My oldest goes to daycare (which we call school) M, W, and F. We volunteer to feed and water horses for a local charity on Tues and Thurs at 6am. Everything else, we work to plug in as possible, and that includes changing our schedules, routines, planning things out so that it works out with minimal stress. Everyday we have daily devotional and prayer time in the morning, and a short little devotional read or Bible story at bedtime. We also have set time for "school stuff" where we practice writing, my 4 year old is learning to read, all 4 of us are learning Spanish (not so much our youngest, though he's with us while we practice), etc, etc.
Our normal routine is as follows:
Mon: babysit, "school", and then I take the baby to a mommy & me kindermusic program. In the evenings, I meet a couple neighbors and their children at the neighborhood pool.
Tues: babysit, back to back work outs: spin class and a circuit class while the boys play in the connected playcenter (the classes are before the playcenter open, so there's a staff member who plays with the children, only 5 children in total, and they play on bounce houses, slides, in a castle, with the train table, blocks, and the play kitchen. the boys love my work out classes because they have fun playing). In the evening, it's kung fu from 4-5. When soccer season was on, practice started at 5:30 so I would either cook dinner at naptime, or put something in the crockpot so it wouldn't be so stressful after 2 practices to get dinner made.
Wed: babysit, "school", ladies Bible study and luncheon (my youngest sleeps at this time). Horseback riding lessons in the evening.
Thurs: babysit, then a playdate. One of my son's teammates has a little brother the same age as my youngest. Since our children are the same age, we began talking, became good friends, and now on Thursdays we hang out. We've gone to the skate park, to a skating rink, Chuck E Cheese, the indoor playcenter with the bounce houses, sometimes we just go to each other's houses for lunch and play. The boys all nap at the same time, and so sometimes they'll all sleep at my house while I go run an errand, and the next week she can run an errand and I stay while the boys sleep. Sometimes the boys are playing and we have other ladies come over also so we can discuss the new book we're reading or whatever. This is usually a leftover night for dinner, or pizza, because we meet with my husband at 5 and all go to the beach.
Fri: babysit, spin and circuit classes, take my eldest to "school" late, take my youngest to storytime at the library, then rest. Pick up my son at 3:50, kung fu from 4-5, and then on the first friday of every month we leave from kung fu to family night at the local family rec center for whatever the event of the month is. My husband meets us there because it's close to his work. He goes out with the guys one or two Fridays a month, but not on family night.
Sat: sometimes we all 4 go to the beach. If I'm really tired and lazy, husband will take the boys to the beach and I'll lay in a little longer, then go to circuit class and meet them for lunch by the beach. Saturdays are "family day" and a little more open to "whatever": sometimes we take a trip to other cities to see museums, the zoo, visit grandpa, ride a train, sometimes it's a classmate's birthday party, sometimes we stay local and do kayaking, fishing, or swimming. That kind of thing. If there's nothing special planned, then husband will stay with the boys while I go do some photography (my hobby) or get a pedicure. On those days, he may go play tennis with a neighbor when I get back. During soccer season, this was the game day.
Sundays: church, rest (husband sometimes has coffee or lunch with some guys from church and they talk guy stuff or volunteer somewhere, but then we read, watch movies, naps for all, etc), and then I take the oldest to awanas (think cubscouts meets vacation Bible school). If the weather is nice, we fly kites, play soccer or bocce or crochet, and feed the ducks. Simple, maybe cheesy, but it works for us.

There's A LOT involved in our weeks. Part of what I do is have my calendar laid out and plan accordingly. On Sundays when we're all just hanging around the house being lazy, I will cook several meals for the upcoming week so I don't have to cook on a super busy day. I do plan our weekly menu because it helps. We each get volunteer opportunities, we each have a hobby or two that we indulge, we each have a day where we get to socialize with peers (me, more because I don't work and include those in playdates). We each take time to read our own thing. Our children have fun and are getting every opportunity we can give to enrich their lives and experiences. Next year my oldest starts full time school, and I can do a little more with just the youngest. When he's in school full time, I'll have more time to do what I want (I'm planning on school and a job, but you could volunteer, do other activities, whatever during the school hours). One thing you said that was a little strange to me is that you're unwilling to drop your activities (plural) but your children only have one single thing they can do. I dunno......I think that could be compromised to work well for all. (Like with my exercise classes being when they think I'm taking them to go play on the bounce houses......or if you want to do yoga, why not find a mommy & me yoga class, etc?) You'll only have your children for so long. Then they're gone. They start driving to their own practices at 16 (maybe carpooling with friends at 14) and you just go to the games......then they're gone and you have all the time in the world for plural activities that DON'T involve them. That's my opinion, at least.