You are worried about seeing him spend his early years in doing nothing. What! Is it nothing to be happy? Nothing to skip, play, and run around all day long? Never in his life will he be so busy again. ~Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Emile, 1762
In our home we do not over schedule our children or let their schedules rule our lives. Often parents spend all of their free time playing taxi driver to children. Many parents I know live life in a fog taking children from one extra curricular activity to the next. I know some kids that never have a free moment of time, because every minute of their day is scheduled with an organized activity or sport. It is not necessary for children to participate in numerous activities for them to become well-rounded, adjusted, and productive members of society.
When I became a mom I decided that I was not going to schedule every minute of my children’s lives. I want my kids to have time to just be kids. I also, want my family to be able to spend quality family time together. In my opinion running kids to and from practice and games does not make for quality family time. David and I came up with some ground rules for our family and extra curricular activities.
Our Rules
- Each child may only participate in two extra curricular activities at a time. Sometimes this means making hard choices. Caleb had to make a choice between scouts, soccer, and basketball. He picked scouts and soccer. While we could afford basketball and he could have been at all the practices and games we felt that three organized activities at one time was too much not only for him but also for us.
- Once you sign up for a sport or activity you MUST complete the season or academic school year. It is not fair to the team, the coach, or our wallet for you to quit after just a few practices or games.
- School work comes first. You can not participate in sports and other activities if you are doing poorly in school.
Following these rules has helped us and our children have happier lives. These rules have also helped us to maintain balance in our lives and in the lives for our children.
Tags: busy kids, busy parnets, working mom, wroking parents