My son swims, I feel the same about swim meets. There is lots of waiting for a minute to 2 minute swim. Do they ever ask for volunteers? It does make the time go faster.

I was a track coach, and hated going to track meets, LOL. They are very long.

Your daughter should be able to get a feel for when her race (presumably the 800) will be, even if it's a rolling schedule. Just ask her to give you a ballpark time. "Hey Mom, my race is at the end of the meet, probably sometime between 7 and 7:45" or "Hey, the meet is running slow, you don't need to come for another hour."

Or, like another poster said, see if you can volunteer. They always need parents for concessions, timing, hurdle set up, etc.

I'm a longtime runner. I usually wasn't a big fan of my parents coming to my track meets unless it was a special occasion. I loved them at XC meets because those were more interesting and fun to watch, were over faster, and usually involved a fun fall activity afterwards. See what your daughter has to say.

Does anyone like going to kid sporting events? I just wish I could read my kindle without people getting the impression I don't love my children.

I never went to any of DD's track meets. She did it for two years. She doesn't seem to care.

Anonymous wrote:Track meets actually require a lot of labor to run. Maybe you could talk to the coach about being a relay zone judge or raking the pit or something. Then at least you'd be an active participant.

My parents did that for years.

+1 to this.

Volunteering like this also helps you make some new adult acquaintances, learn more about your child's activity (which could help you appreciate it more) and most important, shows your child that it's good to help out with things if you can, even if you're not a direct participant. That's a lesson not just for sports but for anything. My DH doesn't know a lot about DD's extensive dance classes and performances, but he volunteers to help with things like moving sets or ushering, and likes to get acquainted with other parents while doing so. I volunteer too and have learned a lot about what goes into her chosen activity. I'm not saying you have to learn to love track by any means, OP! Just that you'll be appreciated if you can help at times (not every meet!) and that your child then sees that it takes everyone to make activities happen.

And yeah, DH and I both bring books too, because there are just times when there's a lot of "hurry up and wait" for parents in any activity--a sport, a performing art, a class, anything....

I hear you. I ran track for years as a child. My dad was the treasurer and shot the start gun for most races. He loved it. My mom maybe came to 2 of my meets. She had other kids too but I get how boring it was. It was great bonding for my Dad.

My oldest is in softball and volleyball and I find both of them very exciting to watch with low key parents. She used to play soccer and I wanted to gouge my eyes out. Not only was it boring as F to watch, but the parents were just obnoxious.

The year my son did track it was BRUTAL. I went because he was 10 at the time, but man I was glad we didn't keep that up. If it's an older kid, 13+ I wouldn't be worried about attending every meet.

PS - if your DD is only running for 2 minutes it sounds like she is doing the 800, which is usually one of the last events in a meet. So go towards the end of the meet.

Why do you need to go? Go run errands or do whatever you need to do. Or bring a book.

Track meets follow a pretty standard schedule so once you know the order of events you can probably time your attendance so you aren't there for as long.

I got to the point where I enjoyed the meets. DC ran indoor and outdoor for 4 years, and qualified for the state championships most seasons, so it was a LOT of meets.

Anonymous wrote:They bore the hell out of me. I have to sit there for like three frickin' hours just to watch her in action for about 2 minutes. Honestly, I would be perfectly happy to not go and just ask her how she did later. I go of course, and don't tell her how I feel, but man do I hate it.

What's of course about it? There didn't used to be the expectation that a parent had to attend every event a child was in. Maybe she's fine with you not being there.

Anonymous wrote:They bore the hell out of me. I have to sit there for like three frickin' hours just to watch her in action for about 2 minutes. Honestly, I would be perfectly happy to not go and just ask her how she did later. I go of course, and don't tell her how I feel, but man do I hate it.

Are you sure she cares? I have one child who actively discouraged us from going to indoor track meets. She was ok with us going to cross-country meets, but didn't want more than 1 or 2 family members there max, so if the grandparents wanted to come to a meet, she expected DH and me to skip it. Of my two others, one is absolutely fine with me skipping some soccer games, while the other would feel sad if I missed any.

Track meets actually require a lot of labor to run. Maybe you could talk to the coach about being a relay zone judge or raking the pit or something. Then at least you'd be an active participant.

My parents did that for years.

They bore the hell out of me. I have to sit there for like three frickin' hours just to watch her in action for about 2 minutes. Honestly, I would be perfectly happy to not go and just ask her how she did later. I go of course, and don't tell her how I feel, but man do I hate it.