How do you take time to take kids of primary school age to sports classes?

[dariodariodario]

Hello,
I still don't have kids, but planning to have soon. I've a lifestyle question, not even sure if this is the right space... I just choose this because it's about primary school age range...
So when I was a kid I used to do any kind of sports: from Judo, to swimming, to baseball... etc... The times of those classes were usually like 3-4 in the afternoon and either my mother or my father would take me to the places. they could do so, because at the time (now it does not work like that anymore), in Italy people working for the govt would work 6 days per week only in the morning. So having the full afternoon free meant they had plenty of time spend with me and do stuff (lucky b.... ).
Anyway, here I make a 9-5 life ... or 9.30 to 6 life... So how can people here find time to take kids to do sports (but it could also be piano classes or chinese classes, etc...), if both parents work?

If you both work they can’t do after school stuff, unless it’s at school. As they gets older the starter times get later.

I have gone part time as my dc do lots of activities, thiS wasn’t the plan but we live far away from family and both had intense jobs with hours outside normal 9-5 and no family local. We tried the weekend classes but found that as children got older that to fit it all in some needed to be in week as ds was scouted for football academy and dd is a dance associate. We have had to scale back on holidays eg France instead of long haul but felt that the opportunities they were offered were more important

I work ten minutes away from home and take work home with me.

Private school? At DS school he can stay and do sports clubs- he does cricket, dance, drama and sometimes running. They run football, netball, table tennis, gym- all sorts. Most are included in the fees.

We have a nanny for wraparound care. She takes her to clubs.

I work part time so we do clubs on those nights or at the weekend.

I work 3 days a week so ds does drama/dance one of those nights.
He does swimming on a Saturday morning.
He goes to after school club 3 days a week which is from 3.20-6. Once he gets into year one in September there are sports clubs that run every day from 3.20-4.45 which are coordinated with the after school club so they'll just take him from the sports club to there afterwards (he's already said he wants to do football and tennis!)
You just find a way to make it work round your own life/working hours.

You have to juggle work, like every other parent or get childcare aka nanny's or childminders.

DH works night shifts on Thursday, Fri, Sat and Sunday. So both DS and DD can swims on a Monday. DD has tennis practice on Tuesday after school.

DS has football training on Thursday after school but I have flexible working so I can finish early with games on sat morning which I take.

I limit to two sports though otherwise it becomes impossible, DD is a competent a swimmer and wants to give it up so she can pick up hockey.

Dp and I both compress our hours so we can take the dc to activities after school 1 day a week each. We do other activities at the weekend.

The only classes my kids did straight after school was ballet and she only did that one because she had something else on a Saturday.

Football training was 5.30pm then 6.30pm when ds got older. Taekwondo was 6.30pm. Hockey was Saturday mornings.

So what do you do then if your child is really talented and needs to attend training/practice during the week? And it isn't just a little jolly at the weekend activity anymore?

IME once your kid is half decent at anything, the sessions are later anyway. The recreational 4/5yo classes might be at 4pm, but a squad 7/8+yo will be 7-9pm or whatever, and maybe early mornings too.

Then you cope with people rolling their eyeballs at you about how late your child is out.

I think if theyve been in afterschool care til 5, another session 7-9 is too much personally.

I've had kids in sports teams but not while working full time. It's only now they've dropped a club I'm going to see if I can up my hours.

My 9yo DS can't come home from school until 5pm- that's when the day finishes at his Prep.

He manages:
M 7-8
W 7-8
T 6.30-8
F 7-9
no problem. Kids can do way more than you think, especially if they are really motivated.

It's ME (and the life admin) that finds it difficult to cope!

Reef I think that's too much for most kids personally. Down time and time to just play freely is still so important.

Obviously if a kid is v committed to their sport it becomes necessary but at a huge cost and I'd only do it if the child themselves was v dedicated. I've had children in swimming and gym squads- both lots of hours and a huge commitment, butwhen the children decided it was enough we stopped. School finished at 3 though so they had downtime first!

I'd definitely advise against it in most cases unless the child is v keen.

I used to teach over programmed kids whose parents thought they were fine ...

Ah well, you are the expert ConfusedTutor. It must feel good knowing so much.

As children get older, the activities get later. DS is 10, his Scouts is 7-9pm. The DC’s school has after school activities straight after school, at school (as well as wrap around care); there’s also the weekend, and I work flexi time. In the summer I left to work for 7am, so I can leave at 3pm, to take one child to cricket for 5pm, and the next one for 6.15pm. Tbh, my children wouldn’t be able to do half the stuff they do if I did t work flexi time. They both also have music lessons at school.

Our lives are taken over by DC's activities now we have DC in juniors, when they were small it was swimming classes at the weekend and football after school (held at the school so the kids were picked up from their classroom by the coaches and it went on till 6pm so cheap childcare - bliss!).

DH and I both work 90 % leaving mid afternoon twice a week. This allows us to each pick up the kids after school so they can do after school stuff. We also have weekends full of sport. We have 3DC so just 2 or 3 activities each fills the week.