Have you ever been out with your kids and felt like everyone’s eyes were on you?
Brett and I have spent the summer going from one golf course to another with all seven kids. Our older four children compete in matches. The younger three kiddos have been great sports, always happy to tag along for the ride. Even though they have been great, kids will be kids and have left us with some hysterical moments.
My oldest, Thomas, is in the boys’ 10-13-year-old age group. He usually tees off an hour before his sisters. Jeanette and Kaye are in the girls’ 8-11-year-old age group. Adeline is in the girls’ 4-7-year-old age group. At most courses, the girls are split into three groups; we’re occasionally lucky to have a couple grouped together.
Thomas tees off before the girls and usually walks the course by himself. Brett and I split between the girls’ groups with the little kids in tow. You will usually see me pushing around Rhett and Elizabeth in the double stroller while Alice caddies for one of her older sisters. She loves to pull one of the golf club carts around to be helpful.
fore!
At a recent match, Jeanette and Kaye were paired together and Adeline was teeing off with a little boy her age right behind them. Since neither one of us gets to walk with Thomas very often, Brett was going to walk with him and then come back out and help me with the girls when he finished.
There was a wonderful family walking with the little boy that Adeline was paired with so they were fine with me walking with my older girls. Alice loves to talk to new people and wanted to help her sister with her cart so she stayed with Adeline. I took Rhett and Elizabeth in the double stroller to walk with Jeanette and Kaye.
It rained hard the night before, and parts of the course were still very muddy. I was eager to avoid the mud puddles and keep the kids as dry as possible. It was hot, and Rhett kept wiggling, trying to get out of the stroller. He is usually great at riding in the stroller but on this particular day, he wanted out.
As we were walking down the fairway on our 4th hole, he managed to wriggle out from under the cup holder and went running across the fairway. I wrangled him back into the stroller and went to the next shot. As I was pushing the stroller, I noticed that one wheel had started making a weird vibration. A small plate and nut that holds the front wheel were missing! Rhett must have knocked it off when he wriggled out earlier – or so I thought.
bump and run
The girls were waiting for the group in front of them to finish before they could start the next hole. I parked the stroller in the shade and told them that I was going to run back and look for the missing piece. I made it back to the area where I thought we might have lost it. Jeanette ran up to tell me that Rhett had managed to get out of the stroller again and into a mud puddle. I gave up looking for the missing piece and decided to just limp the stroller back to the car the best I could.
I was expecting to find a muddy toddler when I walked back up to Rhett. What I did not realize was that he had literally sat down in the mud puddle. His shorts were soaking wet with only one little dry spot right on the front. I packed lots of entertainment and snacks in the stroller but I did not have a change of clothes for him that day. His dry clothes were in the car and we were as far from the clubhouse as we could get during that match. With the stroller wheel falling off Rhett and Elizabeth had to start walking.
Brett made it back out to us two holes later. Adeline’s age group only plays six holes so when she finished up, I took her and the littles back to the clubhouse. Brett walked the last three holes with the oldest two girls.
these are my monkeys; this is my circus
As I was walking back, all I could think was how hysterical we must look out on the golf course. Broken stroller, toddler covered in mud, little girls wanting to stop and run under every willow tree we walked past, and giggles galore. I have started joking with people that we must look like a traveling circus when we go out in town. In the moment, I definitely felt like I was part of a crazy circus where everything was going wrong.
At the end of the day, the kids had a blast and made memories that will last a lifetime. We are not the typical family that you would expect to see at a golf course. I hope that if you happen to see us or any other large family out in public, that our traveling circus puts a smile on your face.
Would you like your child to try golf? Check to see if these organizations offer classes in your area. No country club membership required!
PGA Junior League https://www.pgajrleague.com/
The First Tee https://firsttee.org/
In Tennessee, SNEDS Junior Golf Tour https://www.snedstour.org/
Read more about our adventures on my author page.
