July Sports Updates

[186momx]

How are summer sports going?  

[186momx]

DD is asking to add in private lessons at gymnastics. She is getting really frustrated because the other 3 girls in the class are picking up the new skills really easily and she isn't. So the other girls get to move on and learn the next part of the routine or skill set and DD is stuck working on the 1st part. I get Coach J method and am holding out on adding privates as I've seen what Coach J can accomplish and so far Coach J hasn't said that DD is behind or needs some extra help. I also have a feeling that all these skills that DD almost have are just going to click one day out of the blue.

[madringal]

This is a "throw away" swim season for DD1. She just aged up to the 11-12 group and we have an unreal group of 12 year olds that don't age up until the fall. This means that DD1 has no real chance of making a state relay team and shes still quite a bit aways from any individual cuts. So that means she can kind of chill this season which has been awesome. We skipped out on a few travel meets, she could swim any event she wanted rather then having to choose the ones for the relays, she was able to focus on stroke work outside of her wheelhouse. And for the first time ever, we took a vacation in season and she missed a week of intense practice leading up to conference. It's been so nice to chill out a little this season. This coming weekend is her conference meet and then she will miss another whole week of practice to go to church camp and she is so excited about it. She loves swim so much, but it was getting really intense and the competition and pressure to drop time was getting to her. This has been just the little "break" she needed. When she comes back from camp she will have two weeks of practice to ramp up to her divisional meet and then she will get a whole month off before the next season begins.

[covergirl82]

DS has been practicing with his Little League All-Stars team for a few weeks now. His first All-Stars game is Thursday (7/11).

Travel baseball is now done for DS. DH and I have a season-end wrap-up call with the head coach on Thursday. We really hope that the coach gives us a good indication of if DS will make the team next year. DS isn't the best hitter on the team (but he's gotten extra practice with All-Stars, and we're getting him a few private lessons this week and next week), but he is a good utility defenseman. He's a good pitcher, 2nd baseman, and right fielder. It really is a great group of coaches, kids, and families, so I hope he gets on the team again next year.

DD took the summer off from gymnastics lessons. She'll start sideline cheer next month. (Sideline cheer team starts at 3rd grade, which DD is going into next school year.)  (ETA:  DD is our "dabbler" when it comes to activities, so she likes to try different things.  She'll do something for a while and then decide it's not an interest anymore and wants to try something else.  She hasn't found something she is passionate about yet, which I'm fine with - I think it's good for her to be open to trying different things at this age.)

[waverly]

DS's baseball ended June 30th- yay. It was a lot even though DH did 75% of it. DD's dance recital was June 15th. She was adorable, and I landed successful ballet buns as my accomplishment. Dance season is the school year, so it was long, and I am glad it is over with. No group sports at the moment!

I did sign them up for private swim lessons. The teacher left DD not on the wall, and she floundered to get there, and I had to run over, so I need to talk to the teacher about it next week. Not sure how to address it, but I didn't want to address it while mad because they really do need the lessons. But don't take your eye off the poor swimmer! The good swimmer yes can have less supervision, but the one that can't touch and can't really swim- NOOO! I ended up sitting in a chair like right next to them arms crossed with a pissy look on my face, left my purse and everything on the bleachers. And DD specifically asked for a woman teacher, so IDK.


Just signed them up for soccer which is the end of August. Contemplating if we want to do Monday night dance class for DD. The alternative is Sat at noon which sounds sucky.  I wonder if I can start having her change at aftercare instead of going home?  Or if we still want to go home first (5:30 class aftercare pick up is at 5). 

[mommyatty]

I have a sports question that might need its own thread. DD wants to play volleyball. She’s turning 7 on Thursday. There’s a rev league that starts at 7. But there is a family with twin girls who have set up a team with girls from DD’s class. They’ve played the last 2 seasons, which conflicted with DD’s cheerleading and baseball. They keep asking if DD wants to play.

Here’s the dilemma I have. I really don’t like the parents of any of the kids who play volleyball. They are cliquish and I think their kids are kind of assholes. But these are girls DD is likely to play volleyball with in junior high and high school. So. Would you put your kid on the team, at least to try it out, or just sign her up and let her be on a team with kids she doesn’t know? If it matters, DD loves meeting new people and isn’t at all shy. Also if it matters, DD likes one of the girls on the team. (Hilariously, one of the twins, also a coach’s daughter.) She is completely neutral on the others.

[waverly]

mommyatty , I think this is totally personality based. I would probably go with signing her up for a different team. I am not a fan of clickish or coordinating with people all that much, and am independent. I like the idea that my kid will meet new people.

However, I could totally see someone doing the team with the twins and successfully getting into the clique and setting up car pools and the whole nine yards. I am just not that incentivized or joiner in my personality.

I wouldn't worry about junior high at age 7. Plenty of years in between.

[madringal]

mommyatty, I'd go with the rec league.

[186momx]

mommyatty, I would go with the rec league.

Our friends who send their kids to private school always sign up for rec league for sports instead of the team that the school is putting together. Their reason is they want their kids to be exposed to other kids and not just the private school group.

[rere]

Volleyball tryouts are next week.

We are back to getting up at 5 AM for practices starting today.

I am tired.

That is all.....

[mommyatty]

These kids are playing rec league. So if I sign her up, we will play against the girls from her class. That’ll be weird, but it’s not like I’m worried about offending these folks.

[waverly]

mommyatty, Everyone is playing everyone in our community rec. It's no big deal. If they think it is a big deal (since they are clicky) then that is their problem. Most people don't say anything at all. Some people name drop team members and talk about who they signed up with. Frankly it made me a bit uncomfortable, but mostly I don't hang out with the name dropper moms too much.

[covergirl82]

DH and I just had a "season wrap-up" call with DS's travel team head coach. He didn't leave us hanging about next year, and said he will be inviting DS back on the team next year. I feel a lot of relief about this, as I know DS would've been devastated if he didn't make the team. He has some good friends on the team, and a couple go to the same school, so it would be really hard for him if he didn't make the team. (The two who go to his school, their dads are coaches, so they are guaranteed a spot on the team.) Whew!

[mommyatty]

You guys. My kids were in swim classes this week with a woman everyone describes as a miracle worker. Today was DD’s last day. They had a showcase. DD went from scared to put her eyes in the water to jumping off the diving board, treading for 10 seconds, doing freestyle across the pool, then showing off her backstroke and breaststroke. What the actual hell kind of mojo is this woman working?

DS is in a 2 week class. He had been dog-paddling for 2 weeks before his class started. Yesterday he came home and said he jumped off the diving board and can freestyle! He still has another week. I’m so impressed!

[sandandsea]

We just got DS1’s soccer schedule and every practice (twice a week) is at 4:30. Seriously? How do people get kids to a practice at 4:30?

ETA. It’s the comp team so it’s next week through Christmas.

[waverly]

Jul 13, 2019 15:12:42 GMT -5 sandandsea said:

We just got DS1’s soccer schedule and every practice (twice a week) is at 4:30. Seriously? How do people get kids to a practice at 4:30?

ETA. It’s the comp team so it’s next week through Christmas.

I don’t. We are only doing rec, but the earliest practices are 5:30. Dance was an issue but there is a 5:30 class this year. Last year we did Sat mornings.

[mustardseed2007]

Jul 12, 2019 12:28:52 GMT -5 mommyatty said:

You guys. My kids were in swim classes this week with a woman everyone describes as a miracle worker. Today was DD’s last day. They had a showcase. DD went from scared to put her eyes in the water to jumping off the diving board, treading for 10 seconds, doing freestyle across the pool, then showing off her backstroke and breaststroke. What the actual hell kind of mojo is this woman working?

DS is in a 2 week class. He had been dog-paddling for 2 weeks before his class started. Yesterday he came home and said he jumped off the diving board and can freestyle! He still has another week. I’m so impressed!

Ugh. Do you live in Houston? I need this miracle worker. The YMCA is offering free swim lessons for 1 solid week at our nieghborhood pool and we've put in our application. I know I'll either get the 4pm slot or the 4:30pm slot (last slots of the day). I'm hoping for these kinds of results. 

[mommyatty]

mustardseed2007- sorry. I’m in the Metroplex. This is the third try we’ve had with swim lessons. Aqua-tots, then private lessons in our pool, now this woman. I have no flipping idea how she does it, but we just came in from a family swim where both kids were jumping off the diving board, swimming with their faces in the water and eyes open, and having a great time. DS’s favorite game now is for me to hold up fingers under water, then he swims to me, comes up and does the math. “Two fingers on one hand and three on the other is... 5!”

[mustardseed2007]

mommyatty, that's so great. We've done gold fish, my local gym, a lady at her house (we did get better results with that).

FX on a week of YMCA lessons.

[covergirl82]

DS's Little League All-Stars team lost yesterday, which was their second loss, so they are out of the tournament. I know DS is kind of bummed, but I'm happy he won't be practicing and playing in the 90-100+ degree heat with heat index. (I know that's normal for some of you, but we're just not accustomed to a week or more of heat like that here in MI.) After watching the team play a few games, I also got tired of DS being classified as a "coupled player" (so he was only guaranteed one at-bat and 2 innings in the field), but he was just as good as some of the other kids, so it's disappointing (and frustrating) as a parent to see your kid sit and not rotated in more evenly.

[waverly]

For people that like space in their schedule like I do, how does this sound? I don't like to be going somewhere 3 nights a week, 2 is a my max. Also TLDR, what after school on campus activities would you recommend?

Weekly:

Monday night- Intro to Jazz and Hip Hop for DD 5:30pm. I would take her.

Another weeknight TBT- Soccer practice for both kids. Hopefully the same night for both kids. DH might be assistant coach- DH might take the kids.

Saturdays- Soccer games x2


Monthly:

Sunday late afternoon cub scouts, Tuesday night girl scouts.

Should I request no soccer and basketball on Tuesdays? Or not worry since it is once a month? It definitely clashed with basketball last year which was Tuesdays.


Once soccer stops in November it will be replaced by league basketball. Practice 1 night a week (hopefully same as soccer), games on Saturday for DS. No sport for DD in winter/ spring except dance is all year.

Also, there are tons of extra curriculars for DS after school. Aftercare picks them up from wherever the extra curricular is held and brings them to the aftercare room. Examples include: Art, Sign Language (might be good for DS since he has hearing loss, but he has no real interest in it), Spanish, Fit Club (like PE- they play a lot of physical type games), Choir, Book club, game club, STEM club. Any suggestions from Moms of older kids? He will be going into 3rd grade (more options) and she will go into first. I don't want to overload them, but aftercare is only mediocre, and they are there for that time anyway, so.... Thoughts? 4th grade starts band but it is after school rather than a in school class.

ETA- They also have yoga, garden club, scrapbooking lol, cross country- in 3rd grade- wut?

[mustardseed2007]

My oldest is in first, and last year I load up on after care activities (we did 3 and they were on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday) because he is there anyway and it's mediocre. Same situation as you.

On the other hand, they have time to do homework there. Last year we did 3 things, eventually we may do fewer things depending on how his work load changes with homework.

I basically don't count after care activities other than counting the cost, which does add up.

[k3am]

I switched DD's skating class from Saturdays to Thursdays.. aside from the struggle of trying to drive across town twice and switch from summer clothes to winter clothes in the car, and be laced up by 5:30, I'm pretty happy with the decision so far. The classes are smaller, have more teachers, and are waaaay more structured (which DD needs). Her progress has been great in a short amount of time.

My only bummer is that really, all I want to do while she's in this class is sit, watch her skate, and read on my phone. But... she's in class with a friend, and her mom is a chatterbox, and I feel bad not keeping (or even wanting to keep) up my end of the conversation.

[waverly]

Jul 15, 2019 16:53:11 GMT -5 mustardseed2007 said:

My oldest is in first, and last year I load up on after care activities (we did 3 and they were on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday) because he is there anyway and it's mediocre. Same situation as you.

On the other hand, they have time to do homework there. Last year we did 3 things, eventually we may do fewer things depending on how his work load changes with homework.

I basically don't count after care activities other than counting the cost, which does add up.

Good point. DD does her homework at aftercare but DS prefers not to fit some reason. But in an ideal world they would both have their homework done.

[madringal]

DD1 had her conference swim meet this past week and did great! Dropped time in 2 of her 3 events, including 10+ seconds in her 500 free! She looked so strong and smooth, and her coaches were very happy with her progress. In keeping this season low key, she skipped the time trial and headed to church camp for the week. She'll come back nest week and have two weeks of practice before her divisional meet and then her season will be over. She just aged up in March and was able to get 4 11/12 divisional cuts this summer, so she was pretty happy with that. It's a great way to wrap up the season.

DD2's gymnastics coaches told DH last night they are ready to move her up to level 3 and she is so excited! While she has come around to liking swim (even practicing 5 days a week), gymnastics is her "thing" and she's excited to move on to the next level.

ETA:

OH and DD3 did her first gymnastics class! Squee! How cute is she? PDQ.

[erinshelley21]

We've had zero sports this month. I'm not mad.

[mommyatty]

madringal- omg, she’s adorable!

[madringal]

erinshelley21 that will be us next month and I CANNOT WAIT! Our last swim meet is Aug 4th, I didn't sign the girls up for gymnastics classes in Aug, and cross country doesn't start until Aug 28th. It will be glorious!

[waverly]

I too am enjoying a break from activities. Absolutely nothing to do in the evenings. It is bliss, but I spend a lot of time reading and being tired. Which is fine, maybe I needed to catch up? So it's not like I am replacing it with something super high value, but at least it's reading and not scrolling my phone.

The only thing we have now are the semi private swim lessons, and the last one is Sunday which is a drag because it is early morning after a concert, but it will be so hot out I probably won't drink at the concert anyway.

[sdlaura]

madringal, she's adorable! I just signed all 3 of mine up for gymnastics classes on Saturdays in August, to the tune of $300. I think DD1 and DS2 will be really into it, but I think DS1 could care less. He may end up playing on an iPad in the lobby while I do the class with DS2.

Both of my older kids are also signed up for rec soccer starting next month when school starts. Fingers crossed for practices being onsite at their elementary school at convenient times.

I also need to get them into swim at some point - especially DS2, who can't swim yet, and I feel like that's a safety issue since we have a pool in our backyard. Both older kids started swim at 6 months. Poor 3rd child