Staying Organized During the Hockey Season

When you have a child who plays hockey,  you’ll quickly find that it’s more than just a fun hobby. Hockey is demanding, and, for many families, quickly becomes a way of life. It is so involved and demanding, in fact, that without good organization skills and a steady schedule, practices, games, drills, and other events can get pretty hard to manage. Fortunately, though, you don’t have to keep it all together on your own. There are lots of good organizational tools that can help, as well as a few smart tips that, if followed, can change your life for the better.

Stick to a Schedule!

First things first, understand that playing hockey is a commitment. There’s a commitment to

attending practices and games, as well as other events and fundraisers throughout the year.

To keep it all together, you need to have some kind of schedule that you can stick to. This schedule can be as simple as a basic wall calendar that everyone in the family can check daily. Or, if you’re a little more technologically advanced, it could be an app or online tool. Good options to check out include iCal from Apple or the Google calendar feature.

Say No

As mentioned, being a part of hockey is a commitment, but that doesn’t mean it’s your only commitment. For your sanity and for the health and happiness of your child, you do need a life outside of hockey. As such, before you sign your child up for hockey, ask for a list of mandatory commitments. If you can commit to at least those, then it’s okay to say no to any extras that come up throughout the season. You and your child can be as involved in the extras as you want, but it is okay to say no if you don’t feel like doing something or have other commitments.

Have Everybody Pitch In

Outside of keeping all of your hockey-related commitments, you also have to keep up with the household chores. This will be much, much easier to do if everybody, including the kids, is pitching in. Create a cleaning schedule that clearly lists who cleans what on which days. Enact rewards for when chores are completed and consequences for when they’re not, and then stick to them. To make doing chores a little more fun for kids, check out the iRewardChart app, a mobile app which lets you track and reward daily chores.

As you can see, there are lots of tips and tools out there that can help you and your family to live the “hockey lifestyle” without going insane or constantly feeling frazzled. Find what works for you and your family, and you all should be able to make it through the hockey season with ease.