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!