Less & More: The WFH Mom Edit

From a first-time travel baseball mom who didn’t want to overbuy.

Calling all my travel sports parents! Are you all OK? I’m ok. Are you? What a long, strange season it has been. 

My oldest is a baseball fiend and recently wrapped his first travel baseball season after playing in-house for years. We had a ton of fun and he played multiple tournaments, sometimes 30 minutes from home and sometimes four hours from home. Turns out? You need stuff. Tournament life is easier with stuff!

If you scroll on Instagram long enough, you will see all the “travel sport mom MUST HAVES” that include everything from portable fans to customized baseball earrings. It is easy to get sucked into the vortex of buying all the things because the things are cute and seem like a necessity! It was confusing at first because in the midst of new rules, downloading different apps to keep in contact with the team, organizing schedules, and everything else I was like what do we actually need? What will make things a bit more comfy?

To each their own but as someone on a journey to uncouple with the overconsumption that modern living pushes on us, I made a conscious effort not to buy all the super cute but ultimately wasteful-for-me things advertised to me. Every family and sport are different but here’s what I actually used and loved this travel baseball season and what I’ll be packing up again when the next season begins in a few months. 

Carry It & Stay Comfy: Ok, ok. I caved and bought a trendy lil Bogg Bag. It actually wound up being super useful and fit most of our stuff comfortably. I used a giftcard I had laying around to buy the bag, a phone holder, and some waterproof bags.  I love that the bag doesn’t stain or stink even after being filled with sweaty clothes, melted protein bars, and other garbage after a 12 hour tournament day. The bag fit so well into our trusty collapsible Radio Flyer wagon. We’ve had this since my kids were toddlers and it was super helpful for lugging everything around on long tourney days.  We never knew which fields would have bleachers and which would be more isolated, so we always bring the camp chairs we have had forever and bleacher seats.   

Stay Cool (or Warm!): In the beginning of the season, I wasn’t prepared to be freezing cold and at the end of the season I was overly prepared for being sweaty hot. I tossed all the weather-related things into that big, ol’ Bogg Bag and just made sure they were always on hand. Cold, rainy spring games? Give me the big pack of Hot Hands to shove into my gloves (or inside my winter hat) and the outdoor blanket I have had for years. Balls hot out or super sunny? I am under our pop up tent with my handheld fan and  pack of cooling towels. 

Stay Hydrated & Un-Hangry:  While some fields have concession stands or are close to grocery stores, it was a mixed bag for us so I learned quickly to pack snacks to get us all through the day. Bulk buy your go tos like protein bars, mixed nuts with dried fruit, and grab some clementines. I also designated a reusable water bottle for each of us and made sure to fill it with ice and H2O before leaving for the game. 

Stay Entertained: My youngest is a great bleacher bro and we have a rule that for most tournaments he’s not allowed to bring a tablet. Early in the season we started packing him a “bleacher backpack” with library books, notebooks, markers or pencils, a small lunchbox full of random Lego pieces for Lego challenges, and little odds and ends to keep him occupied. 

The Other Stuff:  Of course, our favorite baseball player needs the actual game things like the insanely pricey bat he earned money to buy for MONTHS and bat bag but there’s little stuff that is nice to carry around too. We usually make sure to bring both his cleats and turf shoes so there aren’t any surprises. We also carry around a small first aid kit, baby wipes, sunscreen, bug spray, and a portable charger.   

Do your kids play sports? Any must-have items to maintain your sanity??

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