Think both kids did their first sport at 3, but I don't think either of them were really ready until 4. Oldest is 6 now and is doing soccer and swim team. She's the only girl for both sports. She's doing awesome with swim team so far (it's only been 2 months ) and does better than most of the boys at soccer because she probably plays rougher with her brother than they're used to, so she doesn't fussy or shy away when things get a little physical. Little brother (4) looks to be the same way with soccer and basketball. He just gets frustrated if he doesn't get the ball for awhile.
we do a "little kickers" club at an indoor soccer place near here, that is more about getting them around the sport and fun. We play with bubbles and hula hoops and stuff and just expend energy while we kick some soccer balls here and there haha wife also signed him up for gymnastics where he gets to climb and jump and work on coordination and again, expend energy lol. Both have been great, but I would call neither 'sports', more organized playtime with others
My oldest first played t-ball at 4 and it didn’t go so well. He wasn’t ready for the structure and duration. He’s about 4.75 now and really into golf, but doesn’t do anything organized with it....just banging practice balls all day in the backyard and playing with me a few times per month. He learned to swim this year (i.e. not drown) and really loves the water. He seems to be trending towards individual sports, but we will still give the normal team sports a try too.
while on the topic what age did your kid start to catch balls thrown at them? i saw a thing on Reddit where a parent said their kid couldn't catch anything thrown at him and it turned out he had bad eye sight. well my kid can't catch for shit and now i'm curious if he has bad eyes. my wife has needed glasses since she was like 5 so we kind of expect it to happen at some point.
your kid isn't even 3 yet, seems premature to assume bad eyes. protip: don't use reddit as a benchmark for childhood development
My older one still can’t catch for shit. I think it is more lack of practice than anything else. In some ways, I think my kids are behind with sports, competition, etc. I was pushed pretty early and it turned me off to a lot of it as an adult. I just want my kids to have fun.
My kid loves baseball. Starting him in tball this spring. He can hit balls thrown to him at a good clip but he can’t catch for shit. He’s only for. Prob gonna pitch to him instead of a tee.
i'm honestly curious when kids start being able to catch. with some things he's surprisingly coordinated, but catching he just kinda stares at you and lets the ball hit him in the face. It's pretty amusing. the eyes are just something on our radar because my wife probably needed glasses a lot earlier than when she got them.
My daughter is similar. Pretty coordinated for her age but the slowest reaction times in the world when you throw her a ball. How old is your son?
Gotcha. You’re a little ahead of us but I’m curious to know more about vision correction. No idea when the right time to start that process is.
My son is 2.5 and can catch but only really consistently if you give them a countdown one, two, three and then throw it on three. We also make a huge deal out of it when he actually catches one, cheering and applause. He gets very excited and jumps up and down.
Based on watching several years of sports kids can't really catch consistently until early grade school. Like, 2nd grade most of them can start to get it but before then it's a serious mishmash of abilities.
My son turns 4 in November and can't catch at all and his vision is fine. Its just focusing on where to put his hands. We have done lil kickers twice and lil sluggers twice. He also wants to do swimming but I hear there is long gaps of when your kid is actually swimming vs sitting on the side waiting for your team. I like soccer the best because its the most active and keeps him engaged. Baseball he likes but gets distracted when they do individual drills. Just part of being a 3-year old.
We've done baseball, softball, basketball, football, soccer, and gymnastics and mostly I just want the kids off screens burning energy and paying attention and working hard and listening. I honestly don't give a rat's ass if they're good or not, although it's fun when they are. A lot of parents seem to get way too caught up on whether their kid is good or not way too early and the funny thing is most of the differences come from whether kids have done that activity before or not. It's not based on innate ability for most kids for a long time. It's whether you played catch with them or shot baskets with them before or whatever. That's just based on my experience coaching some of those sports at different ages at least.
My 5 year old struggles to catch a football thrown softly to his stomach. He is old enough to read letters for an eye exam so I know that isn't an issue. It just takes a long time for hand-eye coordination to develop. If you're concerned about vision have your kid identify objects from a distance. Don't overthink a lack of hand-eye coordination.
catching the football was tricky for my oldest he took the “pointy end” to the chest once and was afraid of it for a little while a little more hand eye coordination and he’s much better a year later
2-nearly-3-year old loves anything that involves hitting something with something else. Hockey stick, tennis racquet, golf club. So we just go to our neighborhood tennis court, I give him a racquet and a ball, and he chases it around hitting it all over the place for seemingly forever. He does the same in our backyard too but the dog thinks it's playtime and will mow him over to chase the ball if the 2 of them go for it. Kinda funny. I couldn't imagine putting him into an organized sport until 4 or 5 where he needs to take his turn or something. Plus I don't want to pay for something I can easily do by letting him loose on a tennis court and over time I can introduce certain skills and things to do that isn't too structured. Gymnastics may be a good next thing.
tennis courts are amazing play pens. my wife's family has a lake house with a tennis court where we go to every year with 8 other little kids and we just let them loose in there and take turns watching.
Did our first family themed Halloween last night. Wife and 2 yr old were vampirina and Gregoria. My 5 yr old went as Ladybug and I was CatNoir. Had a blast.
My 2.5 year old is now at the phase where she's grabbing toys and placing them in the shopping cart while we're out grocery shopping. It was real cute, probably not going to be that cute after the next twelve times.
Kid had a meltdown this morning cause he wouldn't put on shoes. Now I'm working from home and he's in timeout all day.
This is how I get him excited to go to Publix. Having them being unavailable is such a sad feeling. My son is now not really wanting to sit in the top of the cart so he sits in the main compartment and that makes putting groceries in there a bit more difficult. Especially when he starts to want to build a castle with glass jars.
It’s a biweekly thing for us to go ride in the carts. I find an empty isle and go flying as fast as I can with them. I use it as incentive for them to behave. Also, our new Publix has an elevator that goes up to the seating area to eat. You can overlook the entire store. It’s pretty cool. They love to go up there after we’re finished.
glad i'm not the only dad that does that. my son loses his shit when we start sprinting down the cleaning supplies aisle
And yes, if the race carts aren’t available it’s a meltdown. I’ll stalk the people using them to see how long they’ll be.
As someone whose first job was being a bagger at a Bi-Lo, fuck those carts so much when people leave them in the cart returns in the parking lot. You can't easily batch them up so you have to take them back to the lobby individually. I think my wife has taken our daughter in one once, but I try to make it a point of just using a regular cart since she wants to get out of it every two minutes anyways.
I prep everything and pack up for our tailgates the night before home games. We have PSU for a morning game this weekend so I have to be at the lot at 7 am to get our spot and set the tailgate up for when everyone else arrives. This Friday is my son’s birthday so a week ago my wife told me we she wants to host grandparents for pizza on Friday. Over the weekend I learn that it’s more like 30 people coming on Friday.
Does anyone have kids in martial arts? If so what type? And at what age did you start them? My son is 5 and we are looking around for options. My wife wants him to do Teakwondo and I want him to do Brazilian Jiu jitsu.
Do any of you or have you, given your kids melaonin to fall asleep? My 4yo takes forever to go to bed, just isn't tired.
we bought some for a long car trip and use it sparingly now. Typically if there is a babysitter coming and I want to help her out. lately our bed time routine has devolved into a half hour of stories/prayers/hugs and pleading for him to stay in bed and I try not to put the babysitter through that.
Welp, found out we’re gonna have two under 2. She told me on my birthday which was fun and a total shock. Wife thinks her hormones got jacked when she stopped breastfeeding because according to her cycle, which she meticulously tracks, she shouldn’t have gotten pregnant. She was never on birth control and aside from rubbers around her ovulation before our first kid, there wasn’t even really a pregnancy scare. It seems that the wife is a fertile myrtle. I’ll have to be way more careful if we decide we don’t want a round 3. I’m super pumped and she is too, but the realization that #nosleep is our future in about 8 months makes me feel a certain way. I’m really thankful though primarily because the worst part for me the first go around was her stress levels when we were trying. I can’t imagine other people that try for years and the stress and angst that comes with that. I really have a lot of respect for those couples. Anyway, any others with two under 2? Any tips or things that I might be totally oblivious to?
This sounds like my brother. Pretty sure he had sex once after his first and she got pregnant with her 2nd under 2. I'm also certain it was the same situation where she told him it couldn't happen. Let's just say he was not as excited as you.
Good friend was scheduled to have his vasectomy the week he found out he was having his 4th under 5...
I had 3 under 16 months and have survived. You’ll be alright, but it will just be a little more chaotic. You will also realize how easy only having 1 kid was rather quickly.