Useful tips

Getting ready for a meet is sometimes more stressful on me than it is the boys. There are several tips that I have learned over the years that help.

1. For the boys uniforms, I keep their uniform (pants, leo, shorts, socks) together in a mesh bag and hang it on the hanger along with their warm-up. This keeps their uniform together so that we are not hunting for it and keeps it chalk free. We put this in the car the night before.

2. Because a meet takes so long, we have learned to take snacks. Our favorite is to make our own trail mix (raw walnuts, cashews, pecans, dark chocolate chips, and dried cranberries). It is just sweet enough and is packed full of protein. We also like sesame sticks or pretzels, granola bars, and frozen grapes in a small cup with lid. I also put a couple of wet ones in a Ziploc baggie. I put all of the small Ziplocs/containers in a gallon size baggie. It keeps all of the food together in one place and keeps it from being squished into the grips or gym bag. We also send them a liter water bottle.

3. If your child gets nervous or bored waiting, pack them their favorite thing to do. For Damian, he always has a book in his gym bag. Dakotah likes to bring a deck of cards. Some other items to consider are an ipod or video game system.

4. Damian has a latex allergy. He has a full non-latex medical kit in his gym bag along with his saline solution, an extra contact case, and his glasses in there.

These are just a few things that we do. How do you get ready for a meet?