Gone Are The Dog Days Of Summer…Sports, Parties and Vacations OH MY!

Shelby John Uncategorized

If you have been following along with my blog you know that I have been talking about transitions and how summer transitions can cause anxiety and stress.  But one of the transitions that can cause serious stress, especially for us parents, is the transition of balancing summer sports schedules. Do you guys know what I’m talking about?

 

Whether you have one kid or 5 kids, you know the stress that summer sports can bring.  Your child may even be involved in a sport where their competitive season is during the fall/winter, but their hardcore training happens in the summer.  Whatever sport it is, I can bet that you get a little stressed balancing all the schedules. Gone are the lazy days of summer!

 

Summer Sports are Competitive

 

A lot of times, summer sports are sports that have teams that are more competitive in the summer.  Let me clarify… take baseball or softball for example.  There is the main season in the spring, but then All Stars travel ball takes place in the summer.  These are your best of the best traveling and playing in tournaments representing your area.  Those past two statements alone cause me anxiety because of one word…travel.

 

Now, not only are you balancing the schedule of practice multiple times a week, but now you have to arrange hotel stays, plan for the extra money to be spent, and then make sure you get there safely with everything you need!  If you child is younger, you will have to pack everything for them as well as yourself.  This also applies to any siblings they have!  Are you feeling a little anxious yet?

 

Let’s talk about those schedules…

 

Because you have the element of travel, coaches typically want to prepare the team adequately by having multiple practices a week.  This can wreck havoc on your schedule, especially if you have more than one child in sports.  Balancing multiple sports schedules can sometimes leave you feeling overwhelmed and exhausted.  Try to make sure you take some time for yourself in all this chaos.  You can’t pour from an empty cup.

 

Here’s the thing…

 

I oftentimes hear the story of the mom who is missing all the craziness of running her kid(s) around for sports.  You hear the saying, “You’re going to miss it when it’s gone.”  And that may be true.  Our children are only young once.  And I know from personal experience with my own children in multiple sports, that balancing these sports schedules can be hard AND anxiety inducing.

 

You might be saying, “Shelby, I don’t have any kids.”  I get that, but I’m willing to bet that your schedule during the summer is  A LOT busier than it is during the winter.  You probably schedule a vacation, spend more time out with friends, have outside housework to do, and so much more.  And I’m willing to bet that there are times you start feeling a little stressed and overwhelmed.  It happens!  But remember, making sure you are taking care of you will help relieve some of this stress and anxiety!  It’s OKAY to say NO to a night out with friends!

 

Transitions and summer schedules are hard!  They can be time consuming and stressful!  Creating a balanced routine FOR YOU that works around these schedules will help you.  Personally, I like to  get up early EVERY DAY and get a workout in, I eat healthy, and make time for me to help keep my anxiety at bay!

 

It’s important to make out your schedule.  I know typically practices are on certain days at certain times.  Make your schedule and stick to it.  If you have scheduled a walk for yourself at 2:00 then keep that appointment.  It’s easy to just say I don’t have time to do this, but it’s important that you continue to take care of you through the stressful summer season.

 

If you are struggling to keep your stress and anxiety at bay, check out my series of FB Live videos on summer transitions!  You can see them here.