Monday after school, the boys worked on cutting, writing their letters and then we played an alphabet game. Last semester with my school really kicked my butt and I felt like all I did was school work, so I'm making a point to do more with the boys, especially the things I let slide last semester--like reinforcing the things they're doing in preschool.
Tuesday, we had a moms of multiples playdate. It was sunny and in the high 50's/low 60's but we knew that colder weather was coming, so we took advantage and met up at a park and let the kids run around and eat lunch there.
The boys eating lunch with their friends.
The boys had a blast! They basically ran around for 2 hours. There was a great turnout with lots of kids ranging from 4 months old to 5 years old and lots of new moms that I haven't met and some moms that I haven't seen since the summer. It was so nice to be able to chat with the other moms while the kids played.
Evan fell and hurt his knees, and when Carter and this girl started comforting him--he ate it up. So, they "helped" him walk around the park and made sure he took it easy.
Tuesday evening, the boys had their first Iddy Bitty Basketball practice. It's through the Family Y and it's for ages 3-5. It's supposed to be an introduction to the basics of basketball and just kind of "expose" them to it in a fun, laid back way. They were very excited to start.
There ended up being 20 kids, which I thought was a bit too much. I think a smaller group would have worked out a little better. The kids enjoyed shooting the ball, but there was no direction and there were about 10 kids at each basket just throwing the ball--and since they're all so small and most weren't close to getting it in--the balls were bouncing back at the kids and they all kept getting hit in the head, face, etc. It kinda seemed like a recipe for disaster with this particular age group.
They did look adorable doing their stretches, though.
They broke off into pairs to practice passing. Evan insisted that Carter be his partner.
The did a drill where you raced down the court while dribbling the ball. The problem was that most of the kids didn't even know how to dribble the ball at all, so running while dribbling was impossible. Greg really got out there and helped the boys with all the different drills they were doing.
Wrapping up the practice by putting their hands in the middle and saying "go team".
I'll be honest. I was not impressed with the basketball. It's for ages 3-5 and we got several emails before it started explaining what to expect and it sounded like it was what we were looking for. By January, we're always starting to get a little cabin fever, we're sick of the cold weather and starting to run out of fun things to do indoors, so I thought the timing of this basketball practice was perfect. But, I expected it to be more of a "playgroup" with basketball type activities. Very, very basic skills being taught, like dribbling the ball, passing the ball, some running, etc. The coaches were very nice but I don't think they knew much about kids 3-5. I want the boys to be exposed to different sports, but in a social setting. I think it's more fun to go to a gym with a couple of other kids their age and learn how to dribble from somebody who actually knows how (I'd be like the blind leading the blind) but it just wasn't like that. The boys get frustrated because they're expected to do things they have no experience with and when they can't do it, they get frustrated and grumpy. It's twice a week from 5:15-6:00, which is an awful time, but worth it if it was what I was expecting. Greg and I are thinking of not doing it anymore. We've been talking about it a lot since the first practice and we just don't think it's the right fit for us. We have decided to work on the basics of soccer, softball, and basketball with them at home, though. We have soccer balls and soccer goals, a tball set, and a basketball hoop (thanks Brandi!) with basketballs, so since I have a very clear idea of exactly what I want the boys introduction into sports to be, I guess I'm going to have to just do it myself. We did think the softball we signed the boys up for last year was done really well and age appropriate and that was done through a church and not the Family Y, so the next time we sign them up for a sport, it'll be through that instead of the Y.
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