Our house hold is made up of 2 boys 11 and 15 both will be wrestling at State this weekend...and our 13yr old (going on 21) daughter. My husband coaches wrestling and we spend on average 3 nights a week at it along with the weekends starting last December. Last week our kids were on spring break and our daughter was trying to arrange to go bowling with friends..one who wrestles..and as she would ask about a date...no, practice, no,set up for districts, no weigh ins, no Districts..I admit to feeling guilty. We did manage to fit a 3hr bowling afternoon into the week!
My husband also coaches JR Wrestling and as our daughter was a 7th grader this year she played Basketball at the same time....she was quite upset that Dad was not attending her games due to JR high practices and duals....he took off 2 practices and missed one dual to help keep her happy. She said she might as well quit BB and wrestle so her dad would be around to watch her. She is quite tall and a great BB player...and she has tried wrestling (actually won a few!) but she's too cute to wrestle with boys her age! Atleast in our opinion!! Remember...her dad coaches Jr high boys... In the past few years my daughter and I would travel to her MYOB tourneys...while my husband and the boys wrestled. We kept updated by phone thru out the weekends...She is involved in a dance class and we reserve a weekend in June for her performances...just for her and the boys attend both nights. Both of us have coached her Softball teams and soccer teams in the past... It takes work to keep a household of 3 happy...and as you know with teens they are never happy for too long at a time!
I like the night out with each child...that's a great idea!

Good luck this weekend....the daughter is already trying to figure out how to be elsewhere!!!

I have 3 boys - 9, 7 and 1. I guess I would say that I have some guilt because we haul our 1-year-old all over the place just about every weekend for his older brothers wrestling. It is not fair to him, having to be tied down and unable to move around much for an entire weekend! He is just getting up walking pretty good so not being able to move around much gets to him at times.

I also look at it as family time and that helps me not feel so guilty. I guess in a few more weeks my 1 year old will get to be outside at baseball practices (then football practices) and he will like that a ton! He just needs to survive 2 more weeks . . . and then he will have a break until November!!

I have two boys Gary and Wayne and what makes me feel guilty is when both of them are wrestling at the same time different mats which has happened alot this year.

Sometimes I think it may be better to just sit out from competition every other year, and pay the head HS coach $6000 for private lessons for 2 workout partners. Everybody would be ahead, including other siblings. I just don't know if anybody would provide private lessons 3 times a week for a few months for $6000.

The wise ALWAYS learn until the day they die. The fool says "I got this ALL FIGURED OUT..." So, since you are 'still learning' - my guess is that you are doing just as fine as the rest of us. Parenting is hard. No one ever said it was easy. If they did, they are either clueless or a liar.

Strive for balance. Know sometimes you will fail. Sometimes miserable (at least I do). But, what is your goal? "Cats in the Craddle" is always a good one to help me get my priorities back in the right mode.

Role model and practice love, kindness, patience and forgiveness and you'll be just fine! No one can please all the people all the time . . . Just remember, what are YOUR goals and how are YOU doing on them?

Dean, father of three little girls -- 5, 3 and 1 -- but don't let that fool you -- I'm old. 43. I started late.

However, I have taught elementary PE for 19 years so I do know a few things about kids.

thanks for all the input, as far as how many has posted and the number of kids tally i have lost count, i was up to 23, maybe if i have time i will research total people diffrent people who have posted and tally the kids. or some one who can count and read faster can make the tally. lol i assume we have enough to make an nfl team.

or can some one answer this because i do not know. what sport would have the most players on it, including backups and so on.

Well I guess I am the lucky one. I have 3 kids. Son-12 Daughter-10 Daughter-8 and all three have wrestled. The youngest one decided to sit out this year but loves to go to practices and tournaments. As a mom who does it all on her own, I feel very lucky and fortunate that all of my kids love to wrestle and I get to spend alot of quality time with them day in and day out. I feel for each of you that have to deal with the guilt of one or more of your children feeling left out. Reading your posts have reminded me just how lucky and fortunate I truly am. And as soon as the next two weekends are over we will be digging out the fishing poles also. As for the hunting, well....not gonna happen. LOL I am just not that good of a shot and thankfully my kids don't ask to go. Good Luck to all.
Jenna

Add three more to this list. My 9year old boy and 5 year old girl both wrestle, and she also has dance one day a week instead of wrestling. The one left out is mom, who stays home with our 9 month old. She loves watching both kids, but hates wrestling the baby and the older two on the sidelines while I coach. Hoping a toddler may help next year, but I doubt it. So I have to promise Mom to spend some time with her after the season. The kids are easy, at least at this age.

I have 4 kids and I have to say I feel guilty everyday in one way or another..My oldest is 10 and she is from a relationship before my husband and I and she loves to play basketball and well I dont get into basketball and I felt really guilty this year because my mom took her to practice so I could be at wrestling practice with my other 2 and then on game days it was saturdays well I missed all but 1 due to wrestling tournaments and I only made that one because there was no tournament that day..I am dreading them getting older cause they are in the same season but hopefully by then my son can not need mom as much mat side..Juggling time between kids is hard I am glad the one that dont play sports yet is my baby and is only 4 so we have time while the others are in school..My oldest has a little Boyfriend on the wrestling team so it makes it easier now she wants to go..lol..