A Glimpse at How My 7-Year-Old Gets Herself Ready for Practice

The other day my daughter told me “You know what mom? I think I want to quit all my other activities and just focus on cheerleading.” HA! Nice try my dear. I told her if she really wants she could take a break from art class. But that she’d still be in piano (she enjoys it and it’s just 30mins a week). And that her tutoring for reading is a must right now too. I’m glad she’s passionate about cheerleading right now but I want to make sure she continues to do her best in school. And I’d like her to stay involved in music.

She is a busy girl and I definitely don’t want to overbook her. Our homeschool day (on our good days that we don’t sleep in too late or get too distracted) we’re done before lunch. Then she has an hour or so before we head to piano or tutoring. Then her cheer and tumbling practices aren’t until the evening. Some days though, it feels like we are running from one activity to the next all day. On these days it’s easy for me to go without eating until dinner. I know, it’s not healthy but sometimes it happens. I just forget. My daughter is less-likely to forget meals, but there have been times she’s scarfing them down on the way to an activity.

I imagine we aren’t the only parents who struggle with how to plan meals and snacks for our kids who have after school activities. I finally decided it would probably be best if I make some kind of easy grab and go container with things like CLIF Kid Zbar filled, fruit, and crackers. That way they can grab healthy snacks through the day. And have easy-to-take snacks when we are rushing out the door to a sport.

She has a handful of things she likes to do before her practice to get ready. Here are the main things I like to make sure she does:

Getting ready for cheer practice

1. Finish her schoolwork: It’s definitely a requirement for her to be totally done with all of her school work before practice. All her school work is homework so sometimes it can feel like it’s never-ending. But she’s pretty good about making sure her tasks for the day all done well before practice.

2. Eat dinner: It used to be we’d be in a hurry before dinner then I’d make her something quick when we got home around 8pm. Now I’m trying to get her in the bed earlier. So we’re making sure the kids eat around 5 and have time to digest before going out again.

3. Get changed: There’s a lot to remember–Bows, the correct shoes and uniform. The earlier she gets dressed the better so we’re sure we don’t forget anything.

4. Stretch and warm up: This is optional, but days we have extra time to kill I’ll watch her while she warms up or help her stretch before so she can offer and get the most out of her practice.

5. Drink lots of water and have a snack: Like I said before I make sure we have something quick and easy she can take in case it’s going to be a long practice night. There are some evenings she’s out more than 2 hours. I’ll keep her bag packed with water, fruit and CLIF Kid Zbar filled so she has what she needs to stay fueled all night.

She also recorded and edited her own little video on our YouTube channel showing how she gets ready for cheer practice in her own words.

Is your child in an after school sport or activity? How do you guys get ready?

I’m passionate about getting my kids outdoors to play, and making meaningful memories together. That’s why I’ve partnered with CLIF Kid for 2017, to share our adventures of being active as a family. CLIF Kid Zbar® Filled is crafted with creamy, delicious nut butter filling and a blend of nutrients for energy to help keep your kids zipping and zooming along. Their products are free of high fructose corn syrup and artificial flavors. You can learn more about this product here.