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I may have mentioned that we signed the older boys up to play football this fall.

I personally am more fond of them playing soccer; I like the schedule and the level of competition is pretty tame. However, there was a great deal of “football is my FAVORITE game” from one or more individuals this spring so Hubby and I decided to give it a go. The closer we’ve gotten to the season, the more we’re realizing that we’ve gotten in over our heads here.

My post at GNMParents (now Forever Parenting) this week is about concerns over young kids in sports. Then last night I found out that the boys will be practicing 4 nights a week for two hours per night until school starts. From there, they’re going to practice 3 nights a week (still for the 2 hours) and have games on Saturdays. Oh my word! That’s a huge commitment for 9 and 10 year olds. And for the rest of the family. I’m not so sure of the wisdom of that kind of time commitment at this stage of life. Both Hubby and I hesitate to adding once-weekly activities to our schedule. This is huge.

We’ve paid the money and signed the forms, so we’re going to stick with it. If nothing else, there’s plenty to be learned here. But wow. I didn’t think we’d get to this level of sports for 3 or 4 more years. If we’d have understood the requirements I think we would have waved the boys off.

On the other hand, they’ll find out what they’re made of and there won’t be any questions like “What if I had tried football?”. Right?

Boy I hope they don’t get hurt….that we all survive the season without loss of temper….and that we come out on the other side in one piece.

What do you think? Should sports for kids be less intense? More intense? Have your kids been in sports much? What kind of commitment was required, and how did that impact your family?

Earnest Parenting: help for parents of football players.

Image courtesy of a4gpa via Creative Commons license, some rights reserved.