It's Sunday night in early summer, and if you're a baseball parent, I bet you didn't get the flowers planted on the front porch this weekend, or even the lawn mowed. Maybe you barely got the mail in from the mailbox on Saturday...but that doesn't mean you weren't busy.
A sunny weekend in June will bring a full slate of games and errands and corresponding actions regarding uniforms, equipment bags, water bottles, and lunches, snacks and sunflower seeds.
Weekends can feel like all the sections of a woman's magazine smashed together for four different people in two twelve hour time frames: "10 Reasons to Warm Up Before Exercising," "Recipes for On-the-Go Families," "Travel Tips," "Getting Out Grass Stains," "What Not to Wear," "Handling Credit Card Debt," "Cleaning Your House in 15 Minute Intervals," and a feature article: "Real Life Drama: I Never See My Husband Anymore."
Throw in the skyrocketing cost of gas and motoring to games and practices has become stressful and expensive. Are gas prices affecting youth sports in your area? I overheard this recently at the ballpark: a mom told her son he could sign up for soccer, but she couldn't afford to drive him all over for practices and games -- he would have to get rides or walk. I thought to myself, that young man will probably have to get into very good shape AND learn some communication skills to manage the transportation schedule.
We have a "free" weekend coming up (no games or practices) and I asked my husband if we should go away to the coast or something. He laughed, "We've been going away every weekend for baseball tournaments. Let's stay home and enjoy our own little patch of grass." Unmowed, I might add.
