Single Mums

Wow. I’ve made it to half way in the NaBloPoMo - which has really surprised me, I didn’t think I’d make it this far with a post a day - okay yes, some of those posts aren’t real good,but at least I was able to put finger to keyboard on a daily basis, so that’s gotta mean something.

At the moment it’s just me and one child home, my son is at work and my other daughter is with her dad, though she will be home shortly. He just rang to let me know he’s gotta bring her home because she has a migraine (all three of my kids suffer from them. One gets them quite regularly the others only every now and then, but when they do get them it means vomiting, pain and a not pleasant experience)

Today has been pretty much the usual stuff, running kids around etc but today there was something a little different.

While I was heading down to pick my daughter up from her grandparents to take her to basketball I nearly had a car accident while trying to avoid a flock of ducks. Okay I have to go and double check what a group of ducks is called  Hmm well not sure that really helped…from http://www.ducks.ca/resource/general/faq/faq2.html#group

There are several different terms used to refer to a group of ducks. Mostly, it depends on what species of ducks are in the group. Paddling, skiff, raft, team and dopping are just some of the terms used.

It also depends on whether the group is on the ground or in flight. For example, a group of mallard ducks on the ground is call a “sord”, but when in flight, it is called a “flock” (as are all ducks in flight).

Whatever they’re called I’m betting they now wish they hadn’t tried to cross the road in front of me.

Technorati Tags: kids, sport, travel

Well I’ve just got home from my daughter’s basketball training and whaddya know - It’s about to cost me even more money.

Not only do I have to find a way to be able to afford for her to stay with her team when she travels interstate in January (Thankfully I got some good prices on airfares so I can get us both over there - and I can stay with friends so that won’t cost me for a bed) and then have to find more money for her to play interstate again in June, her coach has just asked her to try out for something else, and while she may not make the actual team, the fact that where the trials are is so damn far away means it’s going to cost a fortune just to drive her out there - damn petrol prices. Without even thinking about what it’ll cost on the off chance she did make the team

Of course all this is on top of the weekly costs for her to play - the fuel to get there, the cost to play (and me to spectate) the twice a week travel to training, the registration fees etc etc etc.

Looking back on all I’ve spent just for her to play basketball (not counting other sports she has done, or other sports the other two have competed in) it’s truly a wonder any child makes it to a higher level. Or those that do it’s not suprising that a vast majority of those kids come from relatively well off families. You have to be just to be able to afford it.

With all the carry on about unfit, overweight children etc the government often rambles on about, you’d think they’d put some sort of incentive forward to make it cheaper and more available for children to be able to take up different sports. I’m sure there’s plenty of children out there that don’t do any exercise/play sports simply because their parents can’t afford it, or don’t have access to it etc.

While I would never stop my children from playing sport etc there are times that I wonder if I can truly afford it - actually I don’t really wonder - often I know I can’t afford it, but I keep doing it because the benefits far outweight the cost -at least to me - I’d rather my kids be active/part of a team etc where they can meet new  people, learn the value of teammanship, get some exercise etc etc etc than have them sitting around at home in front of the tv/computer/xbox or out wandering the streets and getting into God only knows what type of trouble. I just wish it didn’t cost so damn much. As a single mum my income is fairly limited and often I find myself robbing peter to pay paul just so I can make sure this child can get to this activity or that child doesn’t let her teammates down by not being there - aside from the fact that I don’t think I could put up with the whining if they didn’t get to play.

Technorati Tags: expenses, kids, money, sport, travel

Well it’s Friday afternoon. I’ve just gotten home from work and picking the kids up from school and now it’s the semi-mad dash to get organised for the Friday evening events. I say semi-mad because unlike last season I now have an extra hour before the basketball game starts. With my daughter going up an age group it now means the games start an hour later.

So tonight I have to get one child to cadets, one to basketball and the other to her acting thing. While in theory it’s easy cause they are all on the way to each other, the hard part is that they all either start or finish at the same time. This is a fairly regular occurance for me - having three kids that need to be in three totally different places all at the same time, and usually I can manage two of them quite easily, it’s getting the third to or from that creates havoc. I sort have it covered tonight - I’ll do the cadets and basketball and my ex mother in law is gonna do the performance for me. It means me dropping my son off at cadets, racing my daughter down the road to basketball (where I’ll stay to watch the game) then hoping like hell it actually finishes on time (which isn’t always the case) so I can race back to pick my son up. My other daughter is gonna stay the night with her nana. For a change basketball and cadets sort of coincide as the bball is a home game - when she plays on the other side of town I have major problems as it means I’m neither going to or coming from the game at close to a reasonable time to pick my son up.

Even though the getting to and from is often a major problem, I wouldn’t stop my kids from being involved in their sport or acting/dancing etc for anything. They love it, they’re dedicated to it and it keeps them out of trouble. My son has had to give up his hockey (my daughter will probably play again next winter) cause he now has to play mens and it conflicts with him being able to work, and while he’s saving up for a car work is always going to come first.

Technorati Tags: kids, sport, travel