I am a homeschool mother of 6. I don't have everything figured out, but I can help you with the experience I do have.Please join me as Christian mothers who seek answers through prayer in study in raising our children in a Godly way.
For several years my son has wanted to do basketball. I’ve told him I couldn’t handle it. He is getting close to the age where he could drive himself. This post goes over why I’m choosing to still say no.
When my children were younger and my oldest child was in 3rd grade, I had my children in baseball. It was really fun when my kids just started public school. It actually gave me more time with my school aged children because I’d meet them at school an hour earlier than they’d get home from school. It also got me and the younger kids outside and helped us make friends. As my kids got older, baseball involved a lot of travel during the week even. Twice a week we were traveling 2 hours away for games on school nights. My kids were so tired and didn’t want to get up to go to school. Some nights we wouldn’t get home until close to midnight. I decided after that season that I was never doing that again.
One thing that I don’t like about sports is we don’t read and discuss the scriptures like we should. It is a last minute discussion that we hustle and do before everyone falls asleep in the car. If any of the kids are tired and screaming then scriptures get skipped altogether. When we don’t have time to teach our kids The Word, our children are still being taught by the satan and the world. It’s so important to slow down enough to teach them in the short tears they’re with us to trust our Father and spent time letting Him teach us.
My kids are with me most of the day. When they go to sports I am with them for the whole ride their and the whole ride back. However, it is 45 minutes away and that’s not counting if we had games. By the time we get home my kids are rushed to get their teeth brushed and to get in bed.
Additionally, we do sports we don’t have dinner as a family. That is one huge thing for me. I grew up not doing dinner together at my mom’s house except on Thanksgiving and a couple other times a year. I decided a long time ago in my walk with Christ that dinner time together is something that is very important to me.
As I sit here writing this post, I think about how my Saturday has gone. My kids and I have been really chill. I have worked on social media things and laundry. My kids did chores. We all rode horses. We have had time to just chill and rest from a busy week. When we do sports, there isn’t rest. We run to practice, run to get dinner, run home, and run to bed. I like giving my kids time to just play and spend time together. They explore the ranch we live on, spend a Saturday painting, read books, go for long hikes, swim outside, and whatever their hearts desire. I wouldn’t trade all that stillness for sitting in the car and driving most of the night.
In addition to my kids having more time to rest, not doing sports helps me have time to rest mentally. It takes a major toll on my emotional health when I don’t have time to clean between homeschool and sports. I can’t function when my house is super dirty and the laundry and dishes are piled up. When I have time to clean and rest then I’m able to speak kinder to my children and be more patient.
It costs a lot of money to drive to town and back. We could make it work if I really wanted to. It’s just not worth giving up needed money elsewhere when it really doesn’t align with the values I want for our family.
Yes, our family does sports from late August-October. It is just city soccer without games in other towns. I am okay with my children doing cross country, football, soccer, or volleyball during those months because practices are all at the same times. I am just not willing to do extra sports that are outside of those months. It is a crazy several months for us and it’s just not worth it to extend the chaos.
These are the reasons I gladly decided to tell my son no. If we do sports I want us to have it be for a short season when we’re still traveling together. Yes I want my kids to do all the things and not miss out, but I don’t want to sacrifice the studying of God’s word, family dinners, my health, time with Dad, and funds that are needed elsewhere. I’m not saying lots of sports doesn’t work for some families. I do think if we lived in town there’s be a good chance I might let my son do basketball. However, with all the time spent apart, it’s just not worth it.
