2 activities alternate weeks

[timeforanicecupoftea]

Has anyone tried doing 2 activities which clash, alternate weeks? Eg Riding one week, football the next, riding the next, and so on?

Thanks

[timeforanicecupoftea]

I am now wondering if that was a really silly question/suggestion! We have limited time and options outside school and dc want to do both but neither very seriously.

[dodobookends]

Well, you probably won't develop skills or progress very far if you only go once a fortnight which might be a bit disheartening after a while - and probably wouldn't get picked for a football team if you don't commit to going to every practice. Maybe try one for a term and then change to the other?

[howabout]

We haven't done alternate weeks but have done holiday clubs for things DC wanted to try but didn't want to do seriously. I didn't want them to get too invested in horses so they only go riding when on holiday at their Grannies. The stable runs help look after the ponies days with lessons thrown in at the end. They can all ride and know all the ponies and their different personalities so it has worked really well. The council runs intensive sports camps during the holidays which they have got a lot out of.

Scouts would be another option for trying lots of different activities without them taking over. DD2 goes hiking, cycling, climbing, Karting, ski-ing, footballing, bowling, swimming and loads more as well as all the usual camping and knot tying.

I agree it would be difficult to alternate if skills are building week by week and there are team commitments.

[timeforanicecupoftea]

Thanks for the responses. I am still in two minds.

DC still quite young. We live in the countryside, and our local riding stable is cheap, and also quite fantastic with good lessons and the children are required to tack up and brush down and set the ponies free afterwards so it takes all afternoon and is generally pretty good for children. DC has been going for years for the mini hack (which cost a fiver), and has just started lessons, and is pretty good but unlikely to ever want to be very competitive at it. The football I am not sure about. DC is very keen to do it as well as the riding. Most of the children are in the year above so much better anyway, but it is true that dc might fall behind and struggle more.

Also not sure whether the clubs would mind.

Thanks for the responses.

[Drivingmadness]

I know several children who only do alternate weeks riding, due to costs. However football is a team sport, so more difficult. I wasn't able to take ds every week for training, due to my work, and whenever he wasn't attending training he would only be subsitute during the Sunday match

[BackforGood]

I think it creates problems if it is a team sport - so I don't think it would work for the football, and I don't think it would work that well for anything where you were learning a new skill (say music lessons).
If it is just "experiences they enjoy" (don't know if the riding would fall under this or if the stables needs a regular commitment ?), then it could work - say cinema one week and swimming or ice-skating or something the next.

[timeforanicecupoftea]

Yes, the riding is a just enjoy thing for DC. The owner of the stables is lovely and has said she thinks it is better if the children go every week, as otherwise the group gets ahead, but in fact half the class don't go every week, for various reasons, so the class doesn't get very ahead.

Re the football DC wouldn't want to do the weekend match yet so it is just the training, but the children do get visibly better week by week so it might not work.

In relation to holidays, howabout is right, there is no problem at all, as there is a lot available!

Thanks again to people who respond.

[OdinsLoveChild]

I have done alternate weeks, riding and rugby for years. It's doable but the progress is slow in riding and opportunities to play at matches limited but my DS didn't want to give up either sport. He'd rather have a go at both than have to choose between them. I don't mind as he enjoys both. Eventually he will probably choose one over the other but at the moment he's happy doing it this way.

[pontificationcentral]

I have three children, a ft occupation, and 2 dogs. I also run a youth activities group. There is no way in hell I would voluntarily alternate weeks for any activities - I would lose myself in the crossover and end up on a grass pitch with a kid in jodhpurs or turning up at the wrong activity on the wrong week. It's a nightmare for whoever is organizing the damned thing (especially if they are volunteers) as you have to keep track of which week it is for which kid, and if you are running activities that require prep or stuff it is a disaster. You waste time and money prepping stuff for kids that don't turn up, or the kid turns up because footie was cancelled and you don't have enough. If you are paying for it, it's even worse - it gives people a sense of entitlement that they expect special treatment, and you end up teaching kids at wildly different stages, and their skill gaps widen all the time, which makes it harder for the teacher, frustrating for the kid who is getting worse in comparison with his peer group, and frustrating for the kid that goes every week as they have to wait around because little Johnny wasn't here when they practised that and needs to be taught. And frustrating for other parents who see their money being wasted while the teacher has to faff around with the alternate weeker.
Much better to make a commitment to something, do it for a term or a year, and then switch if you want to. Dd2 rides during the holidays. She doesn't have time during term time.
When I run the damned activities, I am of course the epitome of niceness. I let all the johnny's doing soccer come late or not at all and I suck it up, but in my head I am fully aware of how difficult it makes it for everyone else, including me. But at least little Johnny gets do what whatever he wants, learning nothing about decision making and compromise.