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We didn’t exactly plan when to have our kids but they are almost exactly two years apart and I think that’s just about perfect. Joey is endlessly patient with his little brother but they are still close enough in age that they play together nicely MOST of the time. We got lucky with those two, for sure.

The down side of their two year age difference is that Joey does just about everything first. With sports for example, he was doing them before Luke and Luke was just itching to get involved. And now that he’s in sports too, he loves it but gets frustrated that Joey has MORE practice days than he has. And that, my friends, can be a problem.

As a result, this non-planning mama is forced to come up with a plan for practice days. My littlest man not only requires to be entertained at afternoon/evening practices but also demands to be fed. Even if his last snack was a short time before.

In order to keep him happy, we pack a bag for him on practice days. Generally, it includes either his baseball glove and a ball or his soccer ball. Additionally, I like to have him choose a few snacks (one is never enough – especially in the event that someone asks him to share) a drink or two. I find that asking him to pick eliminates complaints later.

His absolute favorite afternoon snack is Dannon® Danimals® Smoothies and, honestly, they are something I’m really happy to have him drink to fuel our adventures. We generally pick them up every time we visit Walmart because they have just the right combo of macro nutrients, no high fructose corn syrup or artificial flavors or colors, and they’re a good source of calcium and vitamin D. Other choices we love include animal crackers, cereal bars, apples, carrot sticks, pretzels and string cheese.

And because snacks and sports equipment are NEVER enough (can you say high maintenance child?) I try always to grab a busy bag to bring along. These are bags we put together to give him one more choice at long long practices. There are a million ideas for these on Pinterest but some of our favorites are shown below along with a QUICK tutorial for bags to keep them in.

Duct Tape Zip Top Busy Bags

What You Need:
Quart Sized Zip Top Bag
Duct Tape – 1 large roll, 1 small roll
Scissors
Labels
Busy Bag Fillers

What You Do:

1. Begin by measuring strips of tape about an inch longer than your bag and laying them carefully along the bag, starting on one side.

2.Once front side of bag is completely covered, turn over and cover back side. These strips of tape can be slightly shorter.

3. Cover top, bottom and sides with contrasting, thin tape. This is both to reinforce the first layer of tape and because I think it’s pretty.

4. Run finger along all tape edges to ensure it’s sealed.

5. Fill bags with fun activities – I’ve given you some ideas of what we use (some for the big kid, some for the little one) below.

By the way, RIGHT NOW when you purchase specially marked packages of Dannon® Danimals® Smoothies, you have a chance to win a Play60 Field Day for your school with NFL pros by finding the “Golden Bongo”! Pretty cool, right? Check out the Fuel Up To Play Site for more details.