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The Pit Parenting Thread

Yeah my 9 year old is pretty into travel baseball and the cost adds up quickly. Luckily our team does some solid fundraising so the actual cost of the team is maybe $200 for the calendar year, but you've got to figure at least $500 annually in equipment, and the travel is what kills it from a cost perspective. A local Charlotte-area weekend tournament isn't bad, but we go to Charleston for a weekend in March, Dirty Myrtle for a weekend in July, and Asheville for a weekend in October/November (though usually make that a camping trip so not as pricey). Plus the regular Little League postseason events. The kicker is that the private tournaments (Top Gun) will charge admission to watch your own kid play, usually like $8/person. So a family can easily drop over $50/weekend just to watch their own kid play. It is fun because the kids have been all playing together for years so the families are pretty close between the parents and other siblings and the trips are like big parties, but it is probably $5k-$10k per family per year all-in when you factor in the travel costs, and you are basically revolving your vacations from work around kids baseball.
 
2&2 Slider To Leyritz said:
Yeah my 9 year old is pretty into travel baseball and the cost adds up quickly. Luckily our team does some solid fundraising so the actual cost of the team is maybe $200 for the calendar year, but you've got to figure at least $500 annually in equipment, and the travel is what kills it from a cost perspective. A local Charlotte-area weekend tournament isn't bad, but we go to Charleston for a weekend in March, Dirty Myrtle for a weekend in July, and Asheville for a weekend in October/November (though usually make that a camping trip so not as pricey). Plus the regular Little League postseason events. The kicker is that the private tournaments (Top Gun) will charge admission to watch your own kid play, usually like $8/person. So a family can easily drop over $50/weekend just to watch their own kid play. It is fun because the kids have been all playing together for years so the families are pretty close between the parents and other siblings and the trips are like big parties, but it is probably $5k-$10k per family per year all-in when you factor in the travel costs, and you are basically revolving your vacations from work around kids baseball.
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Do you worry about burning your kid out? As a high school coach, I feel like I've missed out on a lot of good potential athletes at the varsity level because they just simply tire of having devoted so much of their youth to a particular sport, or they feel like sport specialization has cost them opportunities to try different sports. This is probably coming off as way more dickish a question than it means to be. I'm genuinely curious.
 
My 8 year old daughter swims competitively. I probably spend around $2,500 annually for it all in. The coaching/pool rental/meet fees are probably $2k and the rest is swimsuits, caps, goggles, towel pants, fins, etc. Shit adds up. She loves it and is pretty good at it. The way I look at it is that swimming is a sport for life. She really enjoys it now (and could maybe save me some $$ for a private high school scholarship). She's also one of the top back stroke swimmers in her age group in the state. Swim is definitely a year-round sport in Maryland. I feel like lacrosse and soccer complement each other well and kids can do both (my oldest does).
 
mako1331 said:
Do you worry about burning your kid out? As a high school coach, I feel like I've missed out on a lot of good potential athletes at the varsity level because they just simply tire of having devoted so much of their youth to a particular sport, or they feel like sport specialization has cost them opportunities to try different sports. This is probably coming off as way more dickish a question than it means to be. I'm genuinely curious.
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Not at this point, no. He also plays challenge soccer (around Charlotte, we only have 1 or 2 real travel tourneys for that) and rec basketball so gets some diverse action as well. He just really likes to practice/play, whatever the sport is. I do agree that I don't think I will try to push him to one sport for a long time, assuming he is still good enough I've always thought he would play both baseball and soccer in high school, and probably run track if they let him. I definitely see him using soccer skills in the other sports. I do see some kids really zeroing in on one sport at this relatively early age and I do think they are prone to burnout, so our group definitely encourages multiple sports. The baseball league works with the soccer and basketball leagues to try to coordinate schedules (even the travel tournaments) so there is not much conflict.
 
My 11 year old daughter is an ice hockey goalie. Let me tell you about costs...
 
woof, hockey is the worst for kids. tales of 3 generations of stinky hand me downs from parents when i lived in maine
 
mako1331 said:
Do you worry about burning your kid out? As a high school coach, I feel like I've missed out on a lot of good potential athletes at the varsity level because they just simply tire of having devoted so much of their youth to a particular sport, or they feel like sport specialization has cost them opportunities to try different sports. This is probably coming off as way more dickish a question than it means to be. I'm genuinely curious.
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Our neighbor is a high school basketball coach and says the same thing. My stepkids are really athletic, but aren't hyper-focused on any one thing at this point. They're both teachable/coachable, and I (and husband) think there's more to be gained from general coordination and conditioning at this point; if raw talent is there, it will still be there in a few years. In the meantime, nobody's getting burned out with multiple nights per week at practice and tourneys all the time. Nothing against folks who do choose to do that, but that's an insane ask of a whole family for a pre-pubescent kid's hobby.
 
2&2 Slider To Leyritz said:
Yeah my 9 year old is pretty into travel baseball and the cost adds up quickly. Luckily our team does some solid fundraising so the actual cost of the team is maybe $200 for the calendar year, but you've got to figure at least $500 annually in equipment, and the travel is what kills it from a cost perspective. A local Charlotte-area weekend tournament isn't bad, but we go to Charleston for a weekend in March, Dirty Myrtle for a weekend in July, and Asheville for a weekend in October/November (though usually make that a camping trip so not as pricey). Plus the regular Little League postseason events. The kicker is that the private tournaments (Top Gun) will charge admission to watch your own kid play, usually like $8/person. So a family can easily drop over $50/weekend just to watch their own kid play. It is fun because the kids have been all playing together for years so the families are pretty close between the parents and other siblings and the trips are like big parties, but it is probably $5k-$10k per family per year all-in when you factor in the travel costs, and you are basically revolving your vacations from work around kids baseball.
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Another Wake snob. ONLY by paying TONS of money can someone learn.

There a co-#1 reasons why fundamentals have deteriorated in basketball - sneaker companies and AAU. The third, but VERY, VERY, VERY, distanct reason is the inane one on one rule.

What's even WORSE how the AAU is working so tightly with the sneaker companies. They start reaching out for kids in 5th/6th grades. Terrible. Kids get FREE stuff really early and the shoe companies start with the families in middle school. They can clearly see that their school coaches aren't that important to getting scholarships or even to the NBA. You play for a Nike/adidas AAU team; are coached by Nike/adidas coaches. Having that direct line means kids/families don't have to listen to HS coaches or even middle school coaches.
 
The kid is at it again: (not my kid - the one from the butt paste and address stamper incidents)

Eliza: (very calmly) Mom, we have a problem.
Me: What is it, buddy?
Eliza: Austin got a pen off your desk and is coloring.
Me: What’s he coloring?
Eliza: Furniture.

52999858_10104748562275058_2972031018514513920_o.jpg


53279133_10104748562314978_1516655949828325376_o.jpg


(spoiler: it's a Sharpie)
 
ImTheCaptain said:
im so glad we don't have a boy
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To be fair, I know some families who have pretty crazy girls too. But in my household your point rings true. My boy isn't quite as bad as my friend's kid, but he's way more of an asshole than my daughter.
 
Yeah, my experience, shared by others, is that boys are difficult when they're babies and toddlers and once they get their boundaries they're fine. Women might even argue that that's as emotionally mature as they ever become.

Also my experience, shared by others, is that girls are easier as little kids but once they hit puberty you've got a constant problem. Men might argue that they never grow out of it.
 
My two girls have been much more of a pain in the ass than the boy. But they can also be much sweeter.
 
We have an over 14 year old dog with rapidly worsening health. She has declined rapidly in justhe last week. Had to tell the kids yesterday that its time to say goodbye. That was tough. Our 9 yo daughter is taking it really hard. Before crying herself to sleep she said "she's done so much for us its time to do something for her and take away her pain.

Going to be another tough night after scheduling with the vet for tomorrow.
 
deaconson said:
We have an over 14 year old dog with rapidly worsening health. She has declined rapidly in justhe last week. Had to tell the kids yesterday that its time to say goodbye. That was tough. Our 9 yo daughter is taking it really hard. Before crying herself to sleep she said "she's done so much for us its time to do something for her and take away her pain.

Going to be another tough night after scheduling with the vet for tomorrow.
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Luckily our daughter is too young to realize death. We suddenly lost my aunt last month, who S loved and adored. Luckily she's not mentioned anything about my aunt, but sadly will most likely not have any memories of her.


After the umpteenth ear infection, we've finally been referred to an ENT for tubes. I'm not looking forward to her being put to sleep for the surgery, but am looking forward to her feeling better and getting a true sense of her personality. She's been feeling so bad and fussy for so long, and I'm sure the ears played a big part of it.
 
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