Short Pump Soccer Choices: YMCA v. Richmond Strike...

Well, it is that time of year again where registration opens for the Spring soccer leagues. I have enrolled both my daughter and son in the YMCA Shady Grove leagues for the past three years.

But, I always wonder whether I should try the Richmond Strikers soccer league which I understand is taken a bit more seriously than the YMCA.

Now, I have nothing against the YMCA coaches we have had- they have been great.  However, I and other parents have had some issues with the lack of organization by the YMCA itself on several occasions.  Given that the teams are coached by volunteer parents, I think it is really important that the YMCA ALWAYS have YMCA representatives at the venues each and every weekend to monitor the games and scheduling.

Last season, I saw a fight almost break out between two coaches due to one game going way over in time.  It was not clear which coach was right and which was wrong.  One wanted to finish his game while the other wanted to keep the games on schedule.  Both were a bit impatient but again- so much is asked of these coaches, that all of this could have been avoided with some league management.

I have also heard that the Strikers may be a better league for the “more serious” soccer player.  I have not focused  on this one so much but I do wonder if there is some value.  After all, if you are spending this much time with a league (and money), perhaps it is worth getting the most for your money.

Funny thing is that sometimes I think it is a little crazy that I even think about these issues especially when in “my days (I sound really old), no one really played any organized sports until middle school and sometimes high school.

Anyways, if anyone has any thoughts on the two leagues, please share!

Short Pump Schools Will be Affected by Henrico Cou...

When my daughter started kindergarten a few years ago at a Henrico county school in the Short Pump area, I began to understand how important and sensitive matters related to our schools are.  Many of my neighbors and friends chose their homes and neighborhoods specifically for the schools where their children would go to.  Many paid significant premiums a few years ago just for the schools.

So, nothing gets Short pump parents more upset than the thought of our schools changing due to the Henrico county redistricting.  This is clearly the hottest topic at the bus stop each day.

Before I had kids, I would have just thought that there must not be much difference between the various schools in Western Henrico.  However, now that we are “in the game” I totally understand and am actually quite anxious about these upcoming changes.

While my first reaction was that we would just move if the schools changed to ones which we do not want to send our kids to, as I thought more about it, I do not want to move away from my neighborhood or sell my house that l love so much.

I still do not fully understand the process and whether and how relevant resident feedback can be but it is something I am trying to learn more about.  After I do some more research on it, I will provide additional feedback.  In the meantime, here is some helpful information I found on the Internet so far:

The HCPS website for redistricting information is

http://www.henrico.k12.va.us/boundaries/redistricting.html

According to the website, proposed maps will be posted after the December committee meetings. The December committee meeting dates are online at . 12/15 is the Elementary School/Feeder Subcommittee meeting from 5:30-8:30 P.M at the Henrico County Training Facility. 12/16 is the Middle School Subcommittee meeting at Brookland MS from 5:30-8:30 P.M. 12/17 is the High School Subcommittee Meeting at Wilder MS from 5:30-8:30 P.M. The full committee meeting is 12/18 at the Henrico County Training Facility from 5:30-8:30 P.M. These are committee working sessions, so the public is welcome to attend but should not engage the all-volunteer committees which have very full agendas and are dedicated to meeting the needs of all HCPS students.

At this point in the process, the sub-committees have narrowed down possible plans to 3-5 maps. Additional work was required following the Nov sub-committee meetings to take into account expansion of the International Baccalaureate program in 2010 at the Middle School and High School levels as this impacted student numbers at 1 high school and 2 middle schools. After viewing documents on the HCPS website, if you have feedback, please direct those to the sub-committee members via their HCPS e-mail addresses (available at http://www.henrico.k12.va.us/boundaries/RedistrictingFiles/HighSchool2010/Committee%20Member%20List.pdf). In order for the committee to fulfill its charge, the school board and superintendent will await the proposals from the committee in March.

What can you do?
1) Attend the Dec subcommittee meetings if you are interested.
2) Get information online from the HCPS website.
3) Attend the January Community Forums (1/5 @ Hermitage HS, 1/6 @ Elko MS, 1/7 @ Godwin HS. All meetings are from 6-7 P.M.).
4) The second round of community forums is March 9-11. Locations TBD.
5) The School Board will hold public hearings May 13 & 14. The committees are about half-way through the process, but as you can see, there are 3 rounds of public forums and hearings for every interested citizen to engage.
See http://www.henrico.k12.va.us/boundaries/calendar.html for the full calendar.

Short Pump Richmond- Barnes & Noble for Free ...

Image by via CrunchBase

Last night, my family went to our regular Barnes & Noble outing in Short Pump Richmond. We have found that the bookstore is a great place to entertain the kids for an hour without having to spend much money.

When our kids were real young, they could just play in the Thomas the Train set in the kids area.  I also took them to story time every now and then.  It was hit and miss and really depended on the story teller.  There were some good ones but many times my son would lose interest and leave for the train set.

As they got into the 3-5 year range, we would go and I would read them a story.  They got very excited at the chance to pick out a book in a seemingly endless number of choices.  I have a lot of fond memories reading books in the B&N to my kids.

Now that they are a few years older, our new thing is to pick out one of the jokes or riddles books and my daughter loves to read and learn new riddles she can tell people.

I think that in this world where kids get so distracted with movies and video games, it is hard to get kids interested in plain old books. But this is important because books really bring out the imagination in kids. The latest movies are really fascinating in their imagery and creativity but the bid downside is that they do all the imagination for you.

So far my children remain interested in books and especially our B&N outings as it adds excitement to the process.  I am also so happy that the Shady Grover library opened as it provides a second alternative for book reading although I must admit that my kids do not get as excited to go to the library.

Anyways, with the economy the way it is, I am going to start collecting different ideas for cheap or free places to entertainment or educate kids this Christmas season.  If you have any ideas and want to contribute, please send me an email (see the form above to submit information) or email us at info@shortpumprichmond.com.

Enjoying the Soccer Free Weekends in Short Pump...

Well, I have to admit that I am enjoying having soccer free weekends.  This was the first year we had two kids on soccer teams and the scheduling was insane.  I noticed that different families took different approaches to multiple Saturday soccer games. In some families, the mom and dad just split up while in others, there were concentrated efforts to try to stick together.

I really wanted to see both of my kids play and every week I got the guilt trip from one or the other about which game I was going to see most of.  It is kind of silly given that they are so young, that I am not sure it can really be called “playing soccer.”  But still . . .

Well, we made it through the season juggling the soccer games and doing our best to figure out how to watch most of them.

When soccer ended last week, it was so nice to just relax on a Saturday morning.  No need to run around finding soccer shirts and socks, shin guards, balls and drinks.

Now it is weekend #2 and the kids are bored!  It is also really cold so we are once again trying to think of something fun and not to expensive to do that is inside- this has always been a challenging question for us as winters come around.  After thinking about it, we give up . . . call up friends and set up a play date.

Winter activities will start soon but in the meantime, any other ideas?

The Wii has Replaced Bowling in Short Pump...

We used to take our kids to Bowling America in Short Pump almost once a month.  While our kids are too little to actually bowl, they have these bowling ramps that make bowling really fun!  The kids loved it though my son did complain about having to put on the bowling shoes.  The other thing they looked forward to was the french fries.

We think the fries there are excellent!

Anyways, it is interesting but we go the Wii video game earlier this year and somehow got addicted to playing the Wii Sports bowling game.  This game is so fun and no worries about kids picking up heavy balls or worries about whether the ball is going to make it to the pins.

I just realized that ever since we got the Wii, we have not been to the Short Pump bowling alley. Not even once.  It has been almost 10 months.  It has been nice on the budget given that the playing of 2 games for a family of our, rental of shoes plus the inevitable food and drinks can add up to $50 a visit.

My daughter (who has developed rather advanced negotiator skills at such a young age) has been trying to convince us that we should take the $50 savings each month and buy a new Wii game every month.  So far, she has not succeeded.