Schedules

As parents Bret and I have always wanted to have our kids be active. We want them to try new things and find what they like to do and what they are good at. At the same time we don't want them stretched so thin that they have every minute scheduled with some sort of activity and have nothing left for home and school. It is a much harder task than we ever imagined.

Most activities don't just have one night of practice with games on the weekend. Instead they meet two sometimes three times a week plus a day on the weekend. Swimming meets on Tues, Thurs, and Sat. If Emily was to do soccer or basketball they meet on Wed and have games on Sat afternoons. She is starting piano lessons and that is another 30 min one night a week plus practicing. On top of all the activities meeting several times a week it is really hard to say no to new activities. The teachers (bless them) go over the pamphlets that they are sending home and of course all of the kids in class say they are going to do the activities. The last one we said no to was Girl Scouts.

Neither Bret nor I were ever in Scouts. Emily had gotten a flyer sent home from school and said that she really wanted to go and join. We had a long conversation about what Girl Scouts involved and what she was already in. Not wanting to give up anything she was already in we decided to table Scouts until January where we would revisit. The other activity we had a long chat about was dance or gymnastics. I have a really hard time saying no. I some how reason in my head that maybe one more activity wouldn't be that bad. I also think well maybe she should take a break from swimming and see if this would be better. Bret, on the other hand, is a tough sell on anything. He wants Emily to play basketball and keep swimming. Period. If she hated it or wasn't very good he tells me he would be more flexible.

So we have a plan for now. We are very lucky that Emily is pretty easily swayed and just wants to be doing something. She loves swimming and excited to start piano. She is nervous about basketball but loves playing with her dad. Palmer is going to do soccer and we are going to see about piano lessons two after meeting with the teacher.

I am exhausted just thinking about it all and hoping that we are making the right choices.