google-site-verification: google25a08fc65649193e.html Living in Mommywood: Over scheduled children

Sunday, November 3, 2013

Over scheduled children

Watching my Boss run out of my office on Friday at 3:45 pm because he was driving his son to Long Island for a Baseball game and cursing under his breath as he did so made me want to write on this subject.

Baseball practice
Soccer meets
Dance class
Piano lessons
Football games
Debate team
Chess team
Language studies

This list can be endless and believe me when I share I have seen it.
I know several people whose children have a different activity every day aside from going to school.

One thing is not wanting our kids to sit in front of the television for long hours at a time, becoming over weight or too lazy to remain active in daily activities but another is to just fill the hours like they are building a resume.

Just as adults do, at least I feel need time to just take a breath and be still, kids need time to do nothing. Even in doing nothing they are doing something.
Their minds and bodies require rest and recharging after days of go go go.

When my daughter was in elementary school her hours were from 8 am to 3:15 pm, then an after school program till 5 or 6 pm when I got out of work. Tae Kwon Do classes were part of her after school and that was a big help plus she finished her homework there as well. By seventh grade she had the same hours but her work load had her doing homework till close to 7 pm. These changes meant having dinner in between those hours, then a shower and maybe interact with the family then bed time. Imagine adding more activities to that? Where would she have had the time? Where would genuine family interaction have occurred?

Why have we become a society of over scheduling? Why are so many families LIVING via a calendar? Funny enough I found this article in my save for later topics folder on my computer that speaks on this same topic. I will include it in my post so you can have a read.

http://www.modernmom.com/forward/emailref?path=node/154126

I am always about stress free. I am always looking for a way to take things easy, so I ask… What are your thoughts? Should we keep filling our kid’s days with activities or should one of those activities be doing nothing?



8 comments:

  1. My daughter has dance and gymnastics at the moment. She also wants to play soccer and softball, as well as music lessons. We plan to expose her to all these things but she s going to have to pick and choose because all five at the same time is too much for her and us, especially with siblings. Growing up we were heavily involved in sports and that was our family time.

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    1. Angela thanks for visit and sharing your comments. Sounds like your daughter loves her sports :). Any way we can connect with our loved ones is a blessing, enjoy!

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  2. Ugh I am so to blame for overscheduling. I even think that now my girls are accustom to a busy schedule that if we are home they are handfuls because they are bored and don't understand why we aren't doing something. I have been trying to give more down time and take our time on walks etc. to slow our lives downs and things have been better. I definitely do not want to have such busy schedules that we don't have time to enjoy our family. As always a good post that gets you thinking. :)

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    1. Fashionista, nice to hear from you again. Thanks for visit, that is what I always aim for. I always want to get us mommies talking and the daddies too!

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  3. I have always had a fear of my child growing up with a weight problem, because I was heavy the majority of my school years, and it was far from easy. I took a stance early on that I would make sure my children are always active. Fast forward to now that I actually have a child this is the first time I have really thought about it because my son is so active naturally. He is only one but he will not sit and watch television, he's more than likely going to grab your hand and drag you to the front door for a walk, he seriously loves the outdoors. I have no clue where he got that from because I honestly loathe going outside. What I am saying is without that fear of him being overweight, I think at this point when he is old enough to participate in extra activities I will ask him what exactly he wants to do but he will have to have at least one, because I think children with too much free time tend to get into more trouble.

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    1. Kristen, thanks for visit and sharing your story. Always love to hear different views and takes on my posts. Hope to see ya again :)

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  4. I completely agree! And then my 5 year old daughter enjoys doing so many activities, she is now swimming, riding (horse), skating and skiing! Honestly - I signed her up for swimming and skating - my husband decided she should do the other two activities as well - even though I said it was too much!

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    1. Shannon, thanks for your comments and visit. You should have your hubby do all the running around one day to each activity and see how much fun he has. I bet he will never add another thing to what you already planned for again lol. Hope to see you again :)

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