This post is part of a long-term collaboration with Hotels4Teams, all thoughts and opinions are my own.
We might have accidentally bitten off more than we could chew when we were planning out Jay's sports for the spring and summer months. T-ball just ended, but we're in the thick of swimming season, and we have a soccer camp coming up in a few months, and it feels like we don't get much of a break from anything before school starts in the fall. I know he's loving every second of it, but if Derek and I don't stay organized and on top of things from the get-go, we can start to go crazy, and run on fumes pretty quickly. We've learned a few tips and tricks among the chaos over the last several weeks to help us stay on top of the games and practices, and make each day as stress free as possible.
Share A Calendar With Your Spouse: Last week I was out of town which meant Derek was carting the kids back and forth to swimming each day, and next week he is out of town which means the load is all on me. We started sharing a Google Calendar this year where we mark each game, practice, and any other meeting or appointment, and since it's readily available at both of our fingertips we know when everything is going on so we don't accidentally double book ourselves, and we can get everyone to where they need to be on time.
Have Things Prepared For Younger Siblings: Are younger siblings going with you to all of the games and practices? Then be prepared! Don't assume your younger child is going to love watching your older child play while they sit and watch from the sidelines. During baseball season we learned that Em got jealous when she didn't have a batting helmet to wear like everyone else, so we started bringing a bike helmet for her to wear which quickly solved a lot of problems. I also make sure to bring water, snacks, and a phone downloaded with a couple shows to keep her busy while Jay is out there doing his thing.
When Possible, Keep Equipment In The Car: It's swim season, so this isn't entirely applicable since wet towels in the car would go downhill fast, but during baseball season we would keep Jay's bat, ball, glove, and hat in the car, a long with our camping chairs, so that when his twice weekly games rolled around, there wasn't last minute scrambling, and getting out the door was much easier!
Book Travel Accommodations Early: Jay has a fun soccer camp this summer in Provo that we've known about for months. When we first got him setup for the camp, we knew it would be better to just get a hotel down there for the week instead of commuting each day. We booked through Hotels4Teams which was able to get us a hotel within a mile of his soccer camp. Since we made the reservations weeks ago, we haven't had to have that stress hanging over our heads and we've been able to enjoy our summer and prep for camp without that added worry.
Hotels4Teams is perfect for booking sports team travel since you can book one room, or a group of rooms at a time, and they're search engine can help you find a hotel that will be closest to where your sporting event will take place, along with fun travel guides to help you plan your free time while you're there!
Do you have any other tips for staying on top of sport's season? I'm a total newbie over here, so I would love any and all suggestions!
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