A sticky situation

Do any of you out there have experience trying to juggle the show life along with sports in your young children?  When I was growing up I could not do it all, the sports just over lapped each other too much to give any one thing the attention it needed to be good so I chose the sports side.  However, my kids are still at the elementary age.  There is a part of me saying let them be involved in as much as they can until it comes time to "choose" but there is just one of me.  I am trying to teach the little ones that if we are passionate about something we put our whole heart into it.  Now, if the show life is not what they wanted then I would not be having this question because we would be at a batting cage somewhere perfecting the swing.  But, personally the saying "jack of all trades master of none"  keeps coming to mind.    I am torn with having to decide if the kids play summer baseball/softball and travel to practices three times a week and games twice a week and squeeze as much barn time in as possible?  Or on the flip side concentrate on the perfection and skills of showing,. jackpost shows, and herd management and save the baseball/ softball for back yard play.

I think as long as they learn to work hard, be honest, and to give 100% at what you do, regardless of what you have to work with, then you can't go wrong. Like you said, when they get older , they will choose which path suits them better IMO. Opportunity and guidance is all they need for now.

Gargan said:

I think as long as they learn to work hard, be honest, and to give 100% at what you do, regardless of what you have to work with, then you can't go wrong. Like you said, when they get older , they will choose which path suits them better IMO. Opportunity and guidance is all they need for now.

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Great, great advice.

Sometimes being involved in to much at once can teach some great lessons of its own. As they get older they will learn time management and to cope with a busy demanding schedule. And even on occasion to admit when they may have bitten off more then they can chew and how to bow out politely and in a way that doesn't leave others in a bind. But you are years off from this kind of stuff I say let them explore their talents for now 

I played basketball and was on the winter and summer swim team as a youth, but our show cattle always came first. Sometimes, we had to chose to get the coach's permission to skip the game/swim meet and go to the show or skip the show and go to the game/swim meet.  I did track for a while, but only did softball when I was very young (just not enough time for it when showing cattle too).

I think sports are great, and I really enjoyed basketball and swim team. BUT...there are considerably less youth who play college sports when compared to the youth who play sports in junior high and high school...and even less than that who make a career out of sports. I know a lot of people, but only personally know two who have played professional sports. My point is...I will support my kids through whatever activities they chose to participate in...but it is more likely that they will end up with a career in the beef industry (fostered by 4-H, showing cattle, etc) than they will a career in the sports world. My one condition is that whatever they chose to participate in...they always try their best.

My kids are 14, 14 (twins), and 11. Last summer, all three of them were given the opportunity to choose...continue to show cattle AND play baseball/softball, ONLY play ball, or ONLY show cattle. All three of them chose to only show cattle. They all enjoyed their summer much more. We got to attend more cattle shows than usual, they worked harder with their cattle (because they had the time), and they didn't feel the stress of hurrying through chores just to get to a game/practice and trying to figure out which parent, grandparent, or friend was taking which child to their game or practice (because there were often multiple games scheduled at the same time in different towns), and how were chores getting done when we got home...no matter how late it was.

It's a hard decision. Good luck to you!

5PCC, thanks for that I think you understand my situation...it bothers me to rush through the barn work because it never fails you forget something and in our experience the important stuff..the age of the kids are 11  down to  twins that are 7....the hustle and rushing around get crazy and to always know chores need to be done no matter  what oh have to do  all of it no longer becomes fun for them....my fear is the older they get they will have a resentment towards me for ,in a way , choosing for them as far as how much I put on their plate of activities..only time will tell and I guess whatever decision is made I will look at what is best for the kids...

We faced this problem several years ago. Both boy's showed and played baseball. When they got older they started playing on select travel teams. There was no way they could do both. We couldn't be out of town for the weekend or a week and do a good job of taking care of the calves like we needed to and be competitive. As for now if I were you I would let them do both until you have to make a decision but sooner or later you will have to decide. It won't be fair to your calves or your kids teammates to try to do both. Just my two cents worth. Good luck. Tim