Softball season has begun! I've been dreading it, just because I didn't know how we were going to juggle having two girls in the sport. Everybody else we'd seen had been able to manage it and Mika's coaches had always had at least one parent that was transporting two kids - I thought my biggest stress would be getting over leaving one kid without me being there.
As (bad) luck would have it - the girls' practices were scheduled for the same days, at overlapping times, and at fields that were at least 20 minutes away from each other. As soon as Mika's coach told me his practice times, I told him that my other child's practices times were on the same days an hour earlier. He moved his practice time by half-an hour, which would have allowed me to drive back and forth, back and forth (literally - drop one kid off, then drop the other one... go back and pick up one kid, then the other). THEN he tells everybody at the meeting that he requires every kid be supervised every practice by one parent - that he wasn't a daycare provider. If the girls got hit by a ball, they were going to cry and they weren't going to want him.
My jaw just dropped. I'm basically a single parent with two kids for sporting activities, because Daddy Dude usually works later hours on Tu/Th and it's impossible to count on him being there. I told the coach that we couldn't pull it off - he said, 'it's okay, I can work with you if it's not every time." Now - keep in mind I had just TOLD him that the girls' practices were on the same day at overlapping times. So I said, "so you're telling me that I'm screwed, that I have to switch one of my girls' teams." Yes, he said - and that that had to be done through the organization - and oh, by the way, they were a real pain to deal with. If you know me, you know how irritated I was by this point. The coach probably had the audacity to wonder why I didn't volunteer to be team mom, too - but I couldn't volunteer for something when: (1) I wasn't sure Mika was even going to be able to stay on that team and (2) I may not be around for the practices, depending on what happened.
However, we were extremely fortunate to know that one of Marika's friends was trying to move onto another team whose practices were on Tu/Th (and we only discovered that by sheer blind luck of being at the right place at the right time that afternoon). I called the girl's mom and then emailed the organization. Within 1 hour, the switch had officially taken place. So at least I don't have to drive all over town on Tu/Th but we do have practices Mon-Thurs. We're covered until games start and then I guess one of the girls will have to miss a practice if the other has a game. I don't know what we're going to do if the girls have games at the same time - I'm hoping Marika's coach will be more flexible because otherwise... one of them will have to miss a game. I'm going to guess that Mika's coach will change his tune if I tell him he's going to have one less player during a game (especially after he sees how good she is), but we'll see. -maybe he won't care.
Daddy Dude's going to look into trying to change his schedule (if they'll let him). I'm just flabberghasted that her coach was so inflexible and didn't care that some parents were going to have to juggle two kids participating in softball. What do single parents do? What about parents with 3+ kids? We'll be okay, though - one friend will be at the same fields at the same time as Marika and she has already volunteered to help (bless her heart). I think we'll also look into another friend's daughter (since she's unemployed right now) as a paid babysitter to be present, if need be.
Of course, it would be easier if one kid would hate softball by the end of the season, but somehow... I doubt that that will happen. =)
P.S. Remember how I mentioned that the team mom for Mika's soccer team didn't show up for the team party and we had to take up another collection for the coach's gift, because the team money (collected by her) never appeared? Well, apparently... she mailed $45 to one of the moms. That's better than nothing, but I doubt very highly that that was all of the money collected.
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