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?

A Princess Dream

For all the so called “Royal Watchers” out there, this post may piss you off. I am very tired of watching Prince William and his wife Kate's lives unfold on television almost on a daily. Last week it was about three days of the Baptism watch.

I continue to be amazed at how many people actually care about this Prince and Princess fairy tale.
The only Prince and Princess stories I want to continue to see are in Disney films.

The idea of a Prince rescuing you from a dreadful life or the White picket Fence fantasy. The whole Castle and Carriage, is all pretty on screen and in plays or in a book but it is not true to life.
The dress up phase our kids go through with the gowns and swords are priceless memories and great for pictures but I don't feel that is the message I want my daughter or nieces to believe in long term.

Relationships take Effort, Communication and Commitment.
He won't always be so sweet and behave in the kindest way and she won't always be so calm and soft spoken. He will leave his work clothes on the bathroom floor she will trip over it and perhaps yell. She will make plans and ruin his football Sunday.  That is reality.

I think perhaps we should dedicate more time and effort in the teaching of reality than engaging in the encouragement of a fairy tale.
Every time our kids play dress up or see stories like the ones I mentioned above remind them it is not realistic, at least not in the form they are seeing it and in the sense we after all live in the United States of America and that Prince William at the end of the day is "just" a man and Kate is "just" a woman. These are just titles and that their life styles are very different than those of mommy and daddy.

Don’t get me wrong I myself have used and still use especially Princess or Queen in connection to my niece or even in reference to myself, after all my last name in English translation is Crown, but when I use those words they are more as a term of endearment and not as a label of who we are or our roles in society.

What is your take? Should we continue to encourage our daughters to believe that someday their Prince will come or should we say that we hope someday am amazing man who loves and respects them, treats them as their equal and will be supportive crosses their path?