Let the Madness Begin!

Until this spring sports season, our 4 kids have always participated in the same activity—soccer.  Thankfully, the kids all liked soccer and were not that interested in pursuing other sports.  Having them all play soccer was easy—we could all pile into one car, drive to one location and spend most of the morning or afternoon moving from field to field.  Because of these simplified logistics, we never brought up any other sports.  We liked being a soccer only family.

Well, I knew this time would come—the time when my kids would want to do their own thing and we would become one of those crazed families running from one activity to the next.  It all started with a postcard notifying us that it was time to register for spring soccer.  When we told our kids we were going to sign them up they all wailed in unison “noooooo.”  They were tired of kicking around the ball and all wanted to try something different.

My daughter decided on volleyball.   She has never played before nor has she been exposed to it.  Her friends at school were talking about trying out this sport, so she decided she’d like to give it a go too.  I was happy to hear her excitement about something new, so we went online and signed right up. 

My twin boys, unfortunately, each wanted to do try a different activity.  I realize I shouldn’t think of them as a package but it does make logistics easier.  Anyway, I wanted to give each boy a chance to explore his own interests, so we now have karate and tennis on the sports line-up.   However, one of the boys decided to join his twin in tennis (so that his brother wouldn’t have to be in a class with out any familiar faces) in addition to working on obtaining his black belt.

My eldest son, S., also decided to try tennis this spring.  We thought this would work out great--all three boys would have lessons at the courts one  after the other. That was until we received an email from his fall soccer coach looking for more kids for his team.  S. was interested in playing, so we added soccer back to the list of activities.   And wouldn’t you know, my son (who usually needs to be talked in to doing things) came home from school this week excited to join his middle school’s track team.   I don’t want to squash his enthusiasm— but how will we juggle all these activities?   This is new for us—we usually allow for one activity per kid and it is usually soccer.

So this weekend was our first attempt at juggling all of these activities and you know what? It wasn’t so bad.   We had to do a little planning and arrange a few carpools but it all worked out.  The best part is the kids all enjoyed their new sports.  Who knows, maybe we’ll have a future Bruce Lee, Andy Roddick, Kerri Walsh, Beckham or Edwin Moses in the family.