Put some waterproof Uno cards in her bag. My kids started doing this as young swimmer and now, it isn't unusual to see a bunch of 15-18 playing Uno during down time (when they aren't cheering.)

Have fun! This is my kid's last year swimming (after 10y) and I am sooooo sad! I love summer swim season!

OP, many teams have bonding/fun team activities early in the season, which does help new kids. And that you'll be at one of the public pools will probably facilitate making friends, too, because they're used to welcoming kids from all over and (IME) fewer cliques that can happen with private pools.

That said, if your kid is slow to warm up or make new friends, give the coaches a heads up. Part of what the younger coaches do is help make sure kids have fun, including making friends. It will almost certainly work out. My kids *love* summer swim and B meets. Ours have silly themes to them, so they dress up or paint themselves team colors or whatever. This year is the first my three will mostly do A meets and they're displeased about missing the B meets, because of all the fun.

Also, yes, the snack bar is huge.

Anonymous wrote:Thanks, everyone. I think I get it now from my perspective re: volunteering, but still a little worried about whether my daughter will actually have fun.

Is it is mostly the "hanging out with friends" part that makes meets fun for most kids, or are there other aspects of the meet that kids typically find fun that keep all the non-swimming time from feeling boring? (I'm not sure how realistic it is to expect her to make friends on the team quickly unless the team is actively doing stuff to help kids make friends, or we luck into finding an outgoing kid who decides they want to befriend mine. Or if there's something I can do to help make it happen...)

Anonymous wrote: Do you want to say if you’re at LB, Bethesda, or Glenmont? LB is super welcoming (been there for 2 years now) and our team isn’t huge.

Yes, it would be Long Branch.

Your kid will make friends at that age very easily. They have social activities and they will make friends at practice and then at the meets. That is not something you should be concerned about. At older ages, it would be a concern for a new swimmer.

At that age, it’s all about the snack bar/concessions. They love the snack bar.

Thanks, everyone. I think I get it now from my perspective re: volunteering, but still a little worried about whether my daughter will actually have fun.

Is it is mostly the "hanging out with friends" part that makes meets fun for most kids, or are there other aspects of the meet that kids typically find fun that keep all the non-swimming time from feeling boring? (I'm not sure how realistic it is to expect her to make friends on the team quickly unless the team is actively doing stuff to help kids make friends, or we luck into finding an outgoing kid who decides they want to befriend mine. Or if there's something I can do to help make it happen...)

Anonymous wrote: Do you want to say if you’re at LB, Bethesda, or Glenmont? LB is super welcoming (been there for 2 years now) and our team isn’t huge.

Yes, it would be Long Branch.

Echoing with what the majority of folks said with let your daughter stay in the team area. The older swimmers are so sweet to the younger kids. The kids learn chants, cheers, etc., and really have a blast! She is definitely going to make friends.

MCSL team rep here. Don’t stress! B meets are a lot of fun.

Our kids all stay in the team area (and you’re not barred from coming over there to see her). They make friends quickly, learn cheers, stand by the pool and yell for their teammates, run over to you to get money for the snack bar … just don’t let her eat right before she swims lol.

I echo the PP who said that reps need lots of help off the deck. Talk to your team reps; we understand that if you’re solo and have a little one, you need us to help you find a way to fulfill your volunteer requirement. But we won’t know this unless you tell us. So please reach out!

Also, the coaches are vigilant about corralling and lining up the younger swimmers, and there will be volunteers to help them figure out their lanes and heats.

Bring something fun for your 4-year-old to do. Watching the swimming will only last so long.

Some of these things will vary by team, OP. Ours doesn't require kids to be with their team the whole night, so younger/newer ones are often with their parents. There is a significant volunteer expectation of parents in MCSL, which is part of the deal. It's not about being "expected to get childcare," it's about being expected to volunteer and to be able to fulfill the role you volunteer for. As others have said, there are options that occur before or after meets themselves.

One thing to note: if your child is hanging out with you during the meet, please be sure she's easy to find. Know what her events are and roughly when they occur. Volunteers work hard to line kids up in advance of their events and it makes that job much harder if we have to track kids down.

Don’t be intimidated!

As others have said, you don’t need to stay the whole meet. At first, just sign up for freestyle and backstroke and leave afterwards.

At our pool, there’s generally some slack given for new parents/parents with little kids on volunteering, especially if you are a single mom. Sign up to bring food or something behind the scenes. See if you can get someone to watch your four year old for one meet and be a timer. Or spouse helps. Volunteering is a great way to meet other families. At our pool, we assign a veteran family to all the new people to answer questions and help people get to know each other.

Your daughter will be busy cheering for teammmates and just hanging out. They need to be easy to find for their events, but first few meets, if she doesn’t know anyone yet, she can typically hang out with you. Kids being bored isn’t a big issue.

Not ideal, but you can volunteer outside of B meets while someone else watches both kids at home (spouse or sitter). Home A meets and the banquet come to mind. You can knock out three jobs at our pool by doing banquet set up, serving, and clean up.

Honestly once the meet starts cranking it can go by quickly. Have her watch the bigger swimmers for tips and watch how they dive, stroke etc. at a big pool a B meet can go long but like another poster said if she’s close to being legal in breast stroke and butterfly you might want to stay for some of those events (in the second half). Do you want to say if you’re at LB, Bethesda, or Glenmont? LB is super welcoming (been there for 2 years now) and our team isn’t huge.

Team rep here. If you will always be solo parenting a small child at meets, talk to the reps about behind the scenes roles. Every week we have a volunteer concessions shopper who goes to Costco for candy and Gatorade and things for the concessions area. Maybe you can plan one or two of the social events, or write the weekly team newsletter if there is such a thing. Maybe be the volunteer coordinator who manages Swimtopia to get the volunteers for the meets.

Point being the reps always need help off deck as well.

Let your 8yr old stay in the team area. She will make fast friends, learn team cheers, and enjoy the social aspects which make summer swim fun.

Our team requires all swimmers to be in the team area. Your 8 year old will make friends quickly and they love hanging out and chatting and cheering and playing.

Every team is different for volunteer requirements. You need to let the volunteer coordinator (team representatives probably) know that you have a 4 year old you need to watch. They should be able to find you a job that makes sense. However you may miss out on interacting with other parents and making friends yourself. If you can find someone to watch your 4 year old that may be better.

On evenings you are not volunteering you can leave as soon as your child is done swimming.

If your DD is 8 and has no experience with swim team and no friends on the team yet, I would actually plan for her to not be in the team area the whole time and be hanging out with you. The older kids are definitely not hanging out with their parents, but given your situation I wouldn’t bank on that. The reality is that the MCSL B meets are really long. With a new swimmer I would plan on being there for the 1st part of the meet to start, the freestyle and backstroke (which not coincidentally are the strokes kids are most easily “legal” in) are in the 1st half of the meet. From there you can assess how feasible it is to also stay for the 2nd half of the meet (and whether your DD has a legal breaststroke or fly). Your team should also have time trials the weekend of June 8th, that is just your team racing each other to get times. That will also give you a good sense of what a meet is like and what is feasible for your family.

She will be in the team area. You don’t entertain her. She will be playing with friends and going to the snack bar. There are some jobs you can do with a 4 year old. Not a lot. Do you have a spouse? You don’t need to stay for the whole meet. Leave when dd is done swimming

Tentatively planning on doing summer swim team for the first time this summer. Can folks help me wrap my mind around what B meets are like? (My kid probably won't qualify for A meets.) I'm sure some of this varies by team/division/league (this would be MCSL), but would appreciate any insight.

Like, my daughter (age 8) will only be swimming for a couple of minutes total, but the whole thing takes hours, right? What will she do in-between? Does she stay with us or with her teammates? Do they usually do things to make it fun for the kids or are we supposed to plan to keep her entertained during the meets? (We don't know any other kids/families on the team. It is a public pool, not a private one.) She loves swimming, but with all the waiting around, I'm kind of worried that she'll just be bored and grumpy and not want to go to meets.

And then I understand parents are supposed to volunteer at meets, but I will have my 4 year old there as well (unless we're expected to get childcare and not bring younger siblings?) Are there volunteer jobs that can be done while watching a little kid?

Honestly this all feels kind of overwhelming and stressful-- can you help me understand it better so I can assess whether these meets will be a tolerable (and ideally actually fun) experience for her and us? Thanks so much.