Being organized is an essential key to doing more than just surviving the crazy schedule of league sports. It may take some initial work and then maintenance but it will be well worth it.
The first step is to make sure your auto is clean and ready to be organized. Think of it as "Spring Cleaning for your vehicle". Now is the time to clean it all out, and make sure you're engine is summer ready. I take mine to the local oil changing business and have them change the oil and top off all the fluids. They check to make sure the radiator is properly balanced with fluids it needs, which is super important during the hot summer months.
The next step is to make a list of the items you always have to take with you to practices or games. Bat bags, soccer bags, football equipment, etc. Do you take a folding chair to sit in or do you sit in the bleachers? Do you take a folding chair for any younger children? Any of these items should be organized and kept in your car if you can manage it. If you can't keep these in the car, then keep them all together when you take them out of the car. That way, you're less likely to forget them when it's time to put them back in and go.
Younger children can sometimes make watching the game a bit more challenging. I'm not being mean, I know this from experience. I found myself dealing more with my two younger children than watching my older kids play baseball. That was extremely frustrating.
I solved that problem by doing three main things; I provided special chairs, toys and food. It worked like a charm! Now before every practice or game the two younger ones prepare their own backpacks with a few small special toys, coloring books, crayons, sidewalk chalk and bubbles. It gives them a tremendous sense of individuality, independence, and choices.
Our biggest problem seemed to be in the form of food. It seemed like six out of seven nights a week we were away from home and ended up eating out. That was expensive and unhealthy. While ball park hot dogs may be delicious, they don't do much for the caboose. Even if we bought food from the park concession stands we were still spending an easy $20 a game. That adds up pretty darn quick.
