If you have 2+ kids, does the whole family attend tournaments for 1 child?

[Anonymous]

I have 3 kids. Youngest is 2yo toddler. Oldest child has a science Olympiad tournament that is all day. 2yo invited to a birthday party and middle invited to a holiday play date. DH thinks he should just take the oldest to the tournament and I take younger kids to do their activities.

Would you split up the kids and not go to the tournament?

We always split up. My child worked very hard and I want to be there to support him. At the same time, I know there is a lot of waiting around and my toddler will be restless.

[Anonymous]

Split up, especially with a toddler in the mix

[Anonymous]

Can you attend the end of the tournament or how does it work with eliminations? For something big, I would be there.

[Anonymous]

Really not fair to the other kids not to split up in this situation.

[Anonymous]

No, I would not bring my toddler to a science Olympiad tournament. Haha

If I really wanted to go, I’d hire a sitter and have the younger ones skip birthday party/play date and just play at home with fun college kid.

I have a 7, 5, and almost 2 year olds.

[Anonymous]

I don't bring the children to any of their siblings tournaments! They always have the option but never want to go.

[Anonymous]

Split them up! What is a toddler going to do at a science tournament.....watch atoms split? Your oldest will survive.

[Anonymous]

It depends on what your other commitments are and how important this event is to your child. We only have one kid but sometimes DH has work commitments can't make all these events. But if it was a big deal to our child he would absolutely do his best to make it. So sending someone else to work conference or in your case hiring a babysitter so you can attend the tournament.

[Anonymous]

We split up.

[Anonymous]

OMG no way would I bring siblings to a Science Olympiad tournament. A sports tournament, where we'd be outside and they could run around, yes.

There's not even anything for parents to do at a Science O tournament. If you're not a coach, it's more of a drop off thing.

[Anonymous]

I have 4 kids (they are high school and college age now) and we would always split up.

[Anonymous]

If the sibling has nothing else going on, we will all attend my son's soccer tournaments. I would not have a child miss his/her own event (playdate, birthday party, etc) to attend a sibling's event, unless it was a once a year thing like a dance recital.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Really not fair to the other kids not to split up in this situation.

Agreed. This is one reason we only have two kids (seriously).

[Anonymous]

Have you been to a Science Olympiad tournament? There's basically nothing to watch even. I can't understand how this is a question.

[Anonymous]

I think Science Olympiad is best enjoyed by the participants, with parents chaperoning as needed (for middle school and below). There might be a build event or two that younger siblings would be interested in watching, if it's easy to stop by for an hour or two, or you could go at the end of the day for the awards ceremony (though be prepared for that to start late and feel long, especially if your team is not getting many awards). But I don't think it's really fair to younger kids (especially a toddler!) to spend the day stuck in a crowded classroom, waiting for a sibling to compete in events that they might not even be able to watch, like all the test events.

Maybe you can start a new family tradition of a special treat (ice cream?) for the whole family after one kid has a big day that they others can't share in.