Too Many Activities

Okay parents, fess up. Is your child doing too much? I just sat down and looked at my daughters’ schedules. One daughter has a really easy schedule, but is job hunting, so that will add a few hours a week. She is doing yearbook, a book club, school and job. Not too bad. Pretty balanced really. She has time for friends, church and still is doing what she enjoys.

But, my other daughter is just like I was at her age. She is in far too many things. She is doing cheerleading (practice 3 or 4 times a week right now and then when games start 2 times a week), three clubs, tumbling and asked this week to try out for basketball and to take guitar lessons. I told her I had to think about those last two because I felt she was adding too much and it would depend on when basketball starts (i.e. is cheer over then). Granted, she is too young to work yet, but I do feel she could work on her grades a little more. She did say she was going to stop going to one club, so that will help a little.

Does anyone put a limit on activities for their kids? I am thinking about telling her no more than three things at a time. On the other hand, if she is busy she won’t be likely to get into trouble or hang with the wrong crowd. On the other hand, I thought about telling her that her grades have to come up to As and Bs for the most part (instead of sliding by on Cs in some classes) before she adds any other activities. Thoughts?

Hi Lori, this year I have asked the kids to limit their activates to one to two things.  This is mainly for financial reasons.  This is one area that I did not want to scale back on, but we have to do what we have to do.  My youngest is in soccer and skating.  She really loves skating, so after soccer is over that will be her only activity.  My youngest son does soccer and cub scouts.  That seems perfect for him.  He would like to take drum lessons, but that is on hold for now.  My oldest is doing Marching Band and soccer.  Marching Band is very busy right now and conflicts with most of the soccer games.  It is now turning into just Marching Band. 

I agree with you that keeping our kids busy keeps them out of trouble.  Marching Band has been the best thing for my oldest son.  He had two weeks of Marching Band camp, before his freshman year even started.  He had an instant group of friends.  He is now a sophomore and loves music and his friends.  It has been a blessing. 

Your daughters sound very talented.  It is great that they are involved and enjoying what they are doing.

Christine,

Skating is really expensive. We did that for a while when the girls were younger. They loved it, but really didn’t want to compete. They just wanted to do it for fun and it was so very costly with all the outfits and skates and sharpenings and lessons. My youngest had some natural ability, but didn’t seem interested in pursuing it, so we stopped going. Your kids sound talented too.

I limit my kids to two activities each. . .plus scouts. We do bend the rules as a couple of my kids are really into doing stuff on stage. . .so right now for example, we are in the middle of Nutcracker madness. 

Truthfully, I am the one who has my hand in too many things and I’ve always been like that a little bit. I’m the overachiever. ..and so it’s hard to put the breaks on my kids. I guess too since we homeschool, I feel like some of those things are important for them to get into so that they have friends.

My daughter does ballet, piano, swimming, and computer class in addition to attending kindergarten full time.

My son does gymnastics, swimming, and computer class in addition to attending preschool part time.

This is *after* we got rid of some activities. You would think they would be tired, but they keep asking to do more. Frankly, I’m the one who is tired of shuttling them around. 

Lori Soard - 30 October 2009 11:06 PM

Christine,

Skating is really expensive. We did that for a while when the girls were younger. They loved it, but really didn’t want to compete. They just wanted to do it for fun and it was so very costly with all the outfits and skates and sharpenings and lessons. My youngest had some natural ability, but didn’t seem interested in pursuing it, so we stopped going. Your kids sound talented too.

Hi Lori,  luckily my daughter fell in love with roller skating.  That is what we started with and it does not cost that much.  We did 8 weeks of ice skating and I agree that is very expensive.  We have decided to stop the ice skating and stick to the roller skating.  She loves it and it does not breat the bank.

During the school breaks the local roller rink offers really great classes for kids. Both my five and four year old love these classes, but we don’t make time for them during the school year because they already have a ton of stuff going on.

As for me, I would make a lousy teacher because the last time I tried to rollerblade I wound up breaking my tailbone. 

I hadn’t thought of roller skating instead. I may check into that for my daughter if her schedule frees up. Sounds like everyone else is as busy as me. It has gotten a little better, though. My oldest is driving now, so she can take herself to her own events. That means that I just have to shuttle the 13 year old around. It has really taken a load off, although I do have that new worry of a 16 year old driving.