The Cheap Seats

Have you often wondered if your kids are ready for "the big leagues" yet?  Sporting events can be expensive for little ones when you factor in travel costs, ticket costs, snacks and patience.  We take our kids out to a fair number of sporting events in attempt to help them acclimatize to regular human society, but there have been games and events where we've spent more time troubleshooting than we have actually watching the intended event/sporting activity.

This year Chris will be taking the minions to one baseball game each for a special game with their grandma and grandpa.  I think he's hoping the three to four adult to one child ratio will work in his favour.  

That being said, if you think you might be ready to take your kids to a local sporting event, why not give the minor leagues a try.  You can often get cheaper (or even better, free) entrance, which takes the pressure off when it comes to value add and actually seeing the game.  It also supports local teams who would be appreciative of a few extra bums in the seats watching them (or trying to watch them) play.

A couple of weekends ago we went out to Christie Pitts to check out the Toronto Maple Leafs baseball game (admission was free) to see how the minions would fare.

Molly laying on the grass 

Before we went to check out the game we let the kids wear off a bit of energy at the playground, just a few hundred metres away from the ball game.  Next we found some friends and sat on the hill to enjoy some of the game.  Here's the thing.  A big giant hill is a great place to watch a baseball game, it's also a big novelty to little ones who ran, roll and repeatedly jumped in front of the Rogers TV cameraman yelling "CHEESE" loudly.  It's also a great place to cuddle, make grass castles, eat goldfish crackers and giant ice cream cones.  

Overall it was a lot of work, but the kids did well and had a blast while we caught small snippets of the game.  

There is a bathroom at Christie Pitts Park that is close to the playground if you need it.  I feel compelled to publicly shame the drunk woman who thought it was appropriate to cut in line ahead of three toddlers/preschoolers because it was a "pee emergency".  Thankfully my three and a half year old has better bladder control than you.  

Bonus points added to the fact that there is a playground, select shady spots to watch the game, right off of the subway (Christie Station) or if you choose to drive cheap metered parking.  

To view the Toronto Maple Leafs IBL home and away schedule click here.

To read about our MLB experiences and what that has to do with Ashton Kutcher click here.

To read about surviving a sporting event with pre-schoolers click here.

To read my tips on sporting events with infants click here.

To get access to the newest posts from Multiple Momstrosity and more on Facebook click here and follow today! 

Big League

When the minions were little we'd often strap them to our chests in a carrier and take them out to sporting events with us.  Since they were babies, they'd fall asleep when they were tired and for the most part were very well behaved.  I even wrote a post highlighting a list of seven tips to make sporting events with infants easier.

Once the minions became mobile toddlers, sporting events, or any activities where they were "contained" in a crowded arena became significantly less appealing to us. We usually hired a sitter for most sporting events between the age of 18 months and beyond, until this past weekend.  Chris decided that it was time for us to bring them out to an AHL hockey game and see if they were ready.

With the minions BW (Before Walking) at Safeco Field in Seattle

Here are our 10 Tips to Survive a Sporting Event with Pre-schoolers and not lose your mind.

1. Talk the event up ahead of time.  Give a summary of what your kids should expect at the game and talk about how awesome it will be for them to have their own seats and be a part of the crowd.
2. Forget any chances of arriving early to get that free promotional swag they're offering up to the first 1,000 attendees. Every extra minute that you're at the stadium before the game is a minute sooner that your children will get bored.  No matter how cool that bobble head is, I can assure you that it's just not worth it. 
3. Consider at least a two adults for every child, if you can.  This makes everything easier and provides for an extra set of helping hands and distraction. 
4. Pick your seats wisely.  I would suggest aisle seats that are reasonably close to both the bathroom and the snack vendors. 
5. Try securing two rows of seats if there is a decent sized group of you.  This allows your children to sit behind friends and family, so you don't need to constantly apologize to strangers when they get a case of "the Jimmy Legs" and kick people repeatedly throughout the game.
6. Ply them with snacks.  A treat to eat during the game is a good way to encourage best behaviour.  We are not above bribing the minions.
7. Cheer loudly, clap your hands, start chants.  Give them a chance to experience the beauty of fandom, and yell at the top of their lungs when their team scores a "GOOOOAALL".
8. At breaks in play or period breaks, let them run.  We spent each intermission between periods letting the kids run around the open space on the upper bowl and up and down the bleacher stairs to burn off some energy. 
9. Try visiting the mascot.  This can be really exciting to wee ones. Sometimes venues will run Family Day games where there are extra mascots, prizes and activities geared for children - consider going to one of these games.
10. Resign yourself to the fact you are going to miss some of the game and it's usually easier to leave for home a few minutes early so you aren't trying to navigate through huge crowd.  

After the game on the way home I mentioned to Chris that I'd done the math and that the cost of the extra tickets and snacks was comparable, or maybe even more expensive than hiring a babysitter and attending the game by ourselves. Chris smiled and said, "But they had soooo much fun".  I looked back at the sugar crashed minions fast asleep in the back of the car and had to agree.  It was worth it, just not for EVERY game.  I think Chris may be ordering an extra ticket or two for some baseball games this summer to go to a game with dad, Grandma and Grandpa.  

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