Do you think people have their children involved in ...

[Luanne]

too many activities these days?  I remember as a child, I was the youngest of four and my mother only allowed each of us to be involved in one activity at a time.  I hear a lot about people (my brother's wife in particular) who has their children involved in numerous sports and other activities and then complains about them not having time to do their homework.  There also seems to be a lack of time for even young elementary children to play these days. 

[musicianmom]

That's a benefit of homeschooling for us. That way my artsy daughter doesn't have to choose between dance, music, and drama. They're all important to her.

[Mandylubug]

Yes. One family specifically I know has their children enrolled in a minimum of two sports at all times, band and both parents work full time and are going to college. Not to mention at church for different reasons atleast 5 times a week. I had one kid tell he he hadn't played or enjoyed his things in well over two weeks. The kids don't require the activities. It is the parents wanting them to be involved in so much. It saddens me.

 

Our family purposefully chooses to stay simple. Kids are involved in one sport. We do attend church and starting co-op this week. I suppose we are busier than some but that is all we allow. We do go on day trips and adventures but we aim to be outdoors, using our bodies (hiking, etc) and exploring as a family unit.

[PeacefulChaos]

I suppose so.

But at the same time, people sometimes think that we have too much going on, and I just don't see it that way. People have told me that they don't put more than one child in activities at a time because it causes too much busy-ness, etc - but in the end my choice is different.

S I definitely see what you are saying, especially if the moms are signing them up and then turning around and complaining about it. But most likely, it is something the kid really enjoys and they don't want to take that from them, either.

[Catwoman]

In many cases, yes.

 

I know that there are some kids who just love to be busy and want to be involved in every possible activity, but often I think the moms are the ones who want their kids in every last sport, lesson, and recreational program, and the kids don't really care either way.

 

I know a few moms who like to have bragging rights about all of the wonderful things their kids are doing, while there are others who openly admit that they just can't stand having the kids around the house. I had one friend who was terrible at sports and her parents couldn't afford to provide her with things like piano lessons or tennis lessons, so now that she has kids of her own, she's forcing the kids to live her dreams (even though they aren't interested in most of the stuff.) She means well, but I wish she would take the kids' feelings into account, instead of telling them how grateful they should be because she can do so much for them.

[Trish]

It's like speeding. Anyone who drives faster than I do is driving too fast. Anyone who drives slower is too slow.

 

So if they're doing more activities than we are -- YES!!!

 

I think whatever works for them is fine.

[2_girls_mommy]

I always planned to be a parent that had kids in lots of activities and that would be involved and provide opportunities that I didn't have.  So we are busier than I was as a kid.  But I missed out on a lot. 

 

 

[briansmama]

Yes, and it was a big reason why we wanted to homeschool- so our kids wouldn't be overscheduled. I started off thinking that Wed limit outside commitments to 1 activity per child at a time.

 

But then I had ds, who always wanted to play every sport, attend every science class, and be in a band, make pottery, and more.

 

We have an outside activity every day. I've had to learn to adjust my expectations and accept that he needs to be engaged. However, I draw the line at playing two sports during a season. That is too much, in my opinion. Baseball is 2 practices and 2 games per week (not on the same days as practice).

[swellmomma]

People have claimed we have too much going on, yet we still have time to finish school, hang out as a family and for them to hang out with friends.  So personally I don't think it is too much. NOW if they were in ps they would not be in so much to maintain that balance.  While I occasionally whine about the amount of go-go-go that is because I am an introvert and a few of my kids are not and they need the activities to thrive. 

WHen I was growing up we were allowed 1 sport/activity BUT the reality is if it wasn't baseball or guiding/scouting we didn't get anything.  Instead I held a job(started as a volunteer) 5 days a week since age 11, volunteered in my school, as I got older I helped out in clubs at school (like drama) still held an everyday after school job, plus a weekend job, plus babysitting, plus friends.  So I still kept very busy but not in activities like my kids.

 

 

This year my kids activities are as follows:

 

ds15, archery monday nights (starts in nov), cadets tuesday nights, puppy obedience with me wednesday nights(starts in oct), youth group thursday nights, kuk sool won friday nights, cadet training on occasional weekends.  Tonight we check out the pottery guild about their youth classes, and they are joining 4H for the small engine repair club. swimming lessons(daytime)

 

dd14 almost the same as ds15 only no puppy obedience, she is my babysitter those nights, youth choir starting in january

 

ds10 archery, kids church, kuk sool won, pottery(depending on the class), swimming, children's theatre(1 week in the spring), may try baseball this year since he can no longer play soccer

 

dd5 sparks monday nights, kids church, kuk sool won, pottery, swimming, children's theatre, soccer in the spring

 

In the spring everything tapers off until it is all done by the end of june, then summer camp schedules start

 

 

They wanted the full year drama program, dd14 wanted youth ensemble, the 3 youngest wanted dance, and all 4 wanted gymnastics but there is only so many hours in the day so I said no to all of those things.  They would happily only have activities all the time and no school but it doesn't work that way.

[briansmama]

That's a benefit of homeschooling for us. That way my artsy daughter doesn't have to choose between dance, music, and drama. They're all important to her.

I would have loved that as a kid! Very cool.

[redsquirrel]

This is a well worn topic, lol.

 

What do you mean by 'these days'? As opposed to 5 years ago? 30 years ago?

 

It also varied depending on where you live, what you can afford, the employment status of the parents in the home, and the age of the kids. And what are activities? My son is a ballet dancer. Frankly, he is dancing less than he could be, yet he is quite a lot.

 

My sister is HORRIFIED by my kids activities. But her kids are 4 and 2 and in full time daycare. So who has the busier schedule? However, she almost fainted when I told her that due to my eldest son's heavy ballet schedule he is at class most days until 6:30. She gasped that he isn't eating dinner with the family...oh the horror.  Whatever :lol:

[Leav97]

dd (9) swims 3 days a week, has girl scouts every other week, piano lessons once a week (new), co-op every other week.

ds (4) swims 1 day a week, and co-op every other week.

 

some weeks it seems like too much.

[Mandylubug]

I do think many families find a good balance. There are just those occasional few that you feel sorry for and know that you wouldn't have time for all of that BUT different strokes for different folks! These folks (speaking of my family) purposefully sleep till 9am, enjoy our coffee on the patio and meander throughout our day. Some would go insane with our laid backed days. That's ok, too!

[Mrs Mungo]

My kids are involved with more than one activity, but a lot of that is because they don't go to school and get certain electives (like theater, debate, music, sports) in school. We are busy, but we have downtime built into the schedule too.

[Ellie]

Very often, yes.

 

I never did anything. Neither did most of my friends. 

 

I was careful with my children. They did dance (ballet for a year, then several years of Scottish highland dance, then back to ballet), and soccer twice. I don't know how we could have met commitments (competitions and whatnot) for more activities than that; something would have suffered.

 

They also did things like 4-H and Camp Fire, but those didn't have the same kinds of commitments as the dance or soccer.

[DragonFaerie]

I think it really depends on the family and the kids. My two, for example, are polar opposites.  I often joke that DD needs a 32-hour day for everything she wants to do.  She is currently in marching band 3x per week (plus football games and a couple of competitions on weekends), dance company 2x per week, music lesson 1x per week, plus Wednesday night youth group.  She'd love to do theatre and piano lessons and trapese and more dance classes, and...and...and... LOL.  DS, on the other hand, is perfectly happy never going anywhere or doing much of anything ever, which is not really acceptable to me.  As he homeschools, we need other ways for him to get out and about among people with some regularity.  So, he's taking aikido 2x per week, which he does really enjoy.  He also takes a weekly co-op class that he also enjoys, and goes to Wednesday night choir and children's group.  If I had my way, I'd stay home all the time and never go out.  But, my daughter loves her activities, so I play taxi mom to support her.  And DS needs his activities, so I play taxi mom to support him.

[Lolly]

The problem comes here: (quoting Ellie)  "Neither did most of my friends. " I didn't want to put my kids in so many activities, but if they were home, they had no contact with other kids. All the other kids are either at daycare or in other activities. The only solution was to join them in those activities. In my neighborhood, the days of kids just playing outside with each other are gone. If that had been available, we wouldn't have have become so involved in outside activities.

[Mrs_JWM]

I'm so embarrassed...I always said my daughter would only do one activity at a time. This year, she's got track club on Sundays, ballet on Mondays, and free-play homeschool gymnastics, a counseling appt. and voice lessons on Wednesdays. I know the counseling appt. isn't an activity exactly, but it's an hour out, KWIM? Also, I justify track by saying that it's only 6 weeks long. We also walk to ballet, so I don't have to drive, but still...plus, when would I see MY friends if we didn't go to homeschool gym?!! :)

[musicianmom]

It's like speeding. Anyone who drives faster than I do is driving too fast. Anyone who drives slower is too slow.

 

So if they're doing more activities than we are -- YES!!!

 

I think whatever works for them is fine.

Love this. Sometimes it almost becomes a competition of who does the least. People can get smarmy and self-righteous about how rarely they leave the house, you know?

 

My kids are home enough to get on each other's nerves, so we must be doing all right.

[kbutton]

Answering from the 10,000 ft. in the air level, if "we" as a society are so busy that most people have to sign their kids up for something just so that they can meet kids and make friends, yes, I think "we," in the collective sense, are too busy (individual families have to decide for themselves). It's different if the kids have no neighbors or social group that naturally forms, but in many cases, people who want to have a casual life and can't find friends for their kids are excoriated for not signing their kids up for multiple commitments. Ironically, group activities don't always help kids make individual friends they see on a personal level, and then the laid back parents are once again excoriated for not throwing parties so that the other soccer kids (or dance kids, or chess kids, etc.) will come over. In some cases, people have neighbors and friends they never see because those neighbors and friends are never home. I lost a couple of good friends to the never-ending pursuit of sports (they no longer had time for day-to-day friends), and I have a friend whose family's identity became wrapped up in sports/music, and the family disintegrated as kids grew up and sport was not "the tie that binds" after a certain stage of life.

[Mrs_JWM]

Two girls live next door to my mother - who lives two blocks down the street from us - and my kid has played with them twice in 8 years. I think that's so weird. My kid plays outside all the time, and her best friends in the neighborhood are a family we met because they were out walking by. I realize the kids next to my mother must just have different schedules, but they're just never around.

[Joyofsixreboot]

And the catch-22 (for us anyway) is that since almost all the other kids are in activities to see any I have to put my kids in activties.

[Danestress]

too many activities these days? I remember as a child, I was the youngest of four and my mother only allowed each of us to be involved in one activity at a time. I hear a lot about people (my brother's wife in particular) who has their children involved in numerous sports and other activities and then complains about them not having time to do their homework. There also seems to be a lack of time for even young elementary children to play these days.

If it feels like too much for them, they yes. It's definitely too much. If it feels just right to them, then I can't see why it is your business.

[go_go_gadget]

I think if people don't have time to do the things that are important to them (academics, family time, play time, whatever), then they're doing too much. If not, they're fine.

 

We only do two activities (besides playgroup), but between the two of them it's six days per week. There are so many things I see and start thinking ''Well, maybe we could squeeze that in...'', but I've managed to rein myself in. 

[musicianmom]

I always figured the "no kids outside" phenomenon was because kids (I mean elementary age) aren't usually allowed outside without their parents, or because parents are working full time and the kids are in childcare.

 

I felt like a rebel this afternoon because I let my three go out together for a walk around the cul-de-sac without me.

[Arcadia]

I have a lot more activities than my kids.  I was in band (school), choir (school), ensemble (school), art (outside), swimming (outside), speech (outside, Trinity College London programme), stamp club (school), science club (school), piano (outside) for 1st to 6th grade.  Firstly my homework is done while in school so that was not a problem.  Secondly the public transport was so efficient that I can either walk or take the public buses to my activities and I pay the tutors/instructors myself (latchkey generation) so it was easy on my parents.  Now there are no activities that my kids can walk to and I can't drive so any activity has to be on a weekend.

The only time we see kids is at our condo pool in the evening, other than that the kids are at school or childcare. 

[redsquirrel]

I don't see kids in my neighborhood because this is a blue collar working class type neighborhood. I am the only stay at home parent I know of around here. All the other kids are at school or daycare and those who are school aged are in after school care. There are kids who are home after school, but in general they are not allowed to go outside because they are coming home to an empty house. They are expected to stay inside and do homework and care for siblings etc.

 

My son's good friends attend public school and he has to work very hard to get time with them. They are making plans in school to hang out with friends, have sleepovers etc. They seem to have plenty of free time on the weekends, but they make plans with friends they have in school. My son is in middle school aged, and the middle schools have kids bussed from all over. So, on any given weekend his friends are all over the place with their school friends. Sometimes he gets invited along, but it is often out of sight, out of mind. Unless we do the inviting it often doesn't happen.

[Donna]

The biggest benefit of homeschooling for my dd is being able to do her school work, her practicing, and all her activities plus have time to play with friends and free time to do crafts, read, or just be a kid.

 

Is she busy? Yes. Our schedule might be ridiculous to some people but we do what is right for us. I have frequent discussions with dd about how she feels with how things are going. I always check with her before saying yes to gigs and she never turns one down.  

[kewb]

I think what other families do is none of my business.  We do what we are comfortable with.  How that compares to anyone else is of no interest to me.

 

When my kids were younger they hung out with the kids on the block.  There were a bunch of them and they all had fun.  As they got older cliques formed, interests changed, it was no longer so fun. Once my kids no longer enjoyed the kids on the block I found other activities for them.

[Meriwether]

Well, my kids are too busy.

[shanvan]

It is too difficult to compare families b/c of all of the dynamics and differences.  What ages are the kids you are talking about?  What are their personalities like?  What types of learning experiences are they gaining from their activities?  How involved are the parents in the activities?  Does the family bond through their participation?  

 

My Ds gets experiences in public speaking, running meetings, event planning, networking, teaching younger kids, writing articles and a whole lot more.  These are going to be skills he will use all his life.  He is learning to deal with discouragement and disappointment at times, and also experiencing the thrill of success when he trains and things go well.  AND, he loves what he is doing (dog training, 4H, AKC showing and involvement in breed clubs and local kennel club).  There is just a passion for it.   For a younger kid it would be too much.  For a high school kid getting ready to go off to college these are extremely valuable skills.  

 

We definitely had more downtime when my Dc were younger.  However, as they got older they naturally developed interests and they have a desire to excel in those interests.  That takes time for practice, classes, meetings, and competitions/volunteering/events.  As long as they are learning and growing from them I am fine with that.  In our case the Dc's pursuits have become part of our family life and we are all involved.  I know some people think we are crazy for the time we put in on extracurriculars, but it works for us and we are all learning.  They enrich our family life and are an integral part of my Dc's educational experiences and we've met and made friends who have common interests who have also helped each of us learn.  

 

​Plenty of kids and families would not benefit from our choices.  they have a different set of needs, personalities, and circumstances.  Why would I expect other families to do what we are doing?  I certainly wouldn't think less of a family that desired or needed more down time.  We aren't all made the same.  I do know that it can be frustrating trying to coordinate schedules with friends.  We have one family we have been trying to get together with for a month.  We still can't make it work.  Sometimes it isn't b/c we are both busy, but b/c we don't want to fill up our down time with plans.  In fact I remember one year when my kids were around 5 and 10 when I finally put a hold on all playdates with friends.  (We don't have neighborhood kids.)  We were just exhausted from constant visiting and entertaining.    

[mamaraby]

I'm too busy with all this driving around and leaving the house that I do, but my kids love it. I'd have no problem staying home every day, but there are no kids to play with in our neighborhood and my kids have wanted to get out and meet other people. I did draw a line at one sport (soccer). Otherwise it's riding lessons, soccer, and 4H for one while the oldest has soccer, guitar lessons, and 4H. That's on top of homeschool gym and with my "me too" soccer player we're out of the house three to four days a week, sometimes three times a day. Still, we manage to get our school work done, let the kids play on their own outside, watch a little TV, and sit down together to eat meals.

 

"Too busy" is entirely subjective.

[Wabi Sabi]

That's a benefit of homeschooling for us. That way my artsy daughter doesn't have to choose between dance, music, and drama. They're all important to her.

 

 

My kids are involved with more than one activity, but a lot of that is because they don't go to school and get certain electives (like theater, debate, music, sports) in school. We are busy, but we have downtime built into the schedule too.

Exactly. Having time to purse their friendships and interests is one of main reasons we're homeschooling. My kids can get in the academics at home and participate in the fun electives outside of the house: dance, theatre, art, weekly park days, nature/outdoor survival classes, piano, choir, play dates, swimming and diving lessons...(not all at once, mind you, but those are all things we've done in the past year.)

 

It works for us.

[catz]

My kids do a number of activities too. Many I count as curriculum. My kids are extroverted, high energy, and this works for them. Are there kids that have too many? Sure. Are there kids who rarely get to try activities? Yep. Families get to decide what works for their own kids, adjusting as they go. Maybe some families are learning about scheduling the hard way. Why worry about what other families are doing?

[KungFuPanda]

Kids? I have teenagers, so DH and I can finally have activities too! All four of us have different activities at different times. We no longer have dinner together EVERY night, but after YEARS of having 2-3 meals together every day we're fine with it. I'm actually enjoying this phase where the kids and I don't share an identical day and I get to hear new things at dinner :-)

[Audrey]

Yes.  I think for some parents it is a competition.  They love to be able to say "Oo! We are crazy busy!" They love to one-up each other on how harried their lives and their children's lives are. 

 

That's fine, but our lives aren't up for competitions like that. 

 

Whatevs.

[Pretty in Pink]

It's not my business how busy other families are and I really don't think about it or care. <shrugs>

 

Some seasons of life have been busier for us than others. Right now I have three boys in soccer (so practice and/or games 5-6 days per week). My eldest is also in Boy Scouts (meets once per week). My youngest is in Jr. First Lego League (meets once per week). We try to go to park day on Fridays and hit up the library once per week.

 

The sports are do-able for us. Because we homeschool it's easy for me to have supper on the table a bit earlier each night and the soccer fields are within walking distance of our home. It makes for a pleasant evening walk and our littles get in lots of play time at the adjacent playground with all of the other younger sibs. It's a great situation for us so we take full advantage!

 

If you asked my mom she would tell you that we are too busy. Haha. :)

 

[Rosie_0801]

If a person has never had time to learn to amuse themselves, I guess they are too busy.

[lailasmum]

One thing I've noticed is that kids in groups don't seem to actually make friends. I can imagine if you did it for years then maybe but it seems like you rush in for your activity, they do it, then rush out, there's not actually any opportunity to get to know the other kids in anything we've ever done except home ed groups. I've noticed that the kids in our street seem to go through phases where they are all super busy and then phases of more down time. They're currently in a less busy phase and spend their time outside playing in the street and a little play area.

 

But yes I think generally people are too focused on outside activities. I do remember my mum had us in lots of activities throughout my primary years and I can't remember any of them bar violin which I gave up. She may as well have saved her money.

[MommaOfalotta]

I think it depends on the family, and more importantly, the dc. Homeschooling offers a world of opportunity. If the dc wants to be in a lot of activites and ENJOYS them, then that is wonderful.

 

What I don't like is a kid being signed up for a bunch of crap just because the parents want them in everything. Feeling the need to be "busy" or have little Susie in everything... using it as a status symbol or developing a "stage mom" mentality. (I think thats what they call it?)

 

When we started h/s I felt like I would get a lot of flack from my family about socialization (I did, but thats beside the point ;) ) so I put dd in T-ball & Ballet in addition to her swim class and co-op. I was huge and pregnant... we were leaving ballet and running to tball while she changed in the car. She moaned and groaned before the start of every lesson. Since then, if she doesn't like something she doesn't have to take it. We do want her to finish the class, session, season, whatever--but she isn't required to do it again.

 

We have discovered she now HATES ballet (after two sessions of it) she never wants to play Tball again (Dh and I agree--he was coach.. it was a nightmare)... BUT... she loves gymnastics and swim :)

[MommaOfalotta]

Yes.  I think for some parents it is a competition.  They love to be able to say "Oo! We are crazy busy!" They love to one-up each other on how harried their lives and their children's lives are. 

 

That's fine, but our lives aren't up for competitions like that. 

 

Whatevs.

 

This EXACTLY!   :iagree:  :iagree:

 

 

 

 

I hate the glorification of busy and I don't play along. I'm a homebody and an introvert. Having to leave my house is pretty much painful, lol. But this is when it bugs me, because it isn't about the kids... its about the parents.

[Carrie12345]

In some cases.

 

I might have my kids in more activities if they were nearby. As it is, things get complicated when I have 3 kids playing base/softball on 3 different teams b/c they can be so many miles apart.

 

That's an even bigger issue for the public school families. Some of the busses don't arrive until after 4 and then it can take another 20 minutes to clear the bus stop parking lot and get home. Dinner, homework, activity, and a decent bed time to leave for the bus stop again at 7:30am and it can get very hairy. (That was our schedule when ds was in elementary and had just baseball 2-3 times/week.)

 

My activities were limited when I was a kid, but it was because we camped from April to October, weekends during school, and the whole summer. It cut into most sports schedules, but gave us something unique in exchange. Even though my family doesn't do that now, I like to think I'm giving them something different, not less.

[Parrothead]

I suppose it depends on the family and the kids. Even with all of our activities and classes I don't thin we a re over scheduled. Most days we eat dinner together and have time in the evening before bed for reconnecting. It works for us. Others? Maybe not.

[GailV]

That's a benefit of homeschooling for us. That way my artsy daughter doesn't have to choose between dance, music, and drama. They're all important to her.

 

This is us.  Dds are great at acting.  The good places that have acting as an extracurricular (since dds aren't attending a school) usually have it available as musical theater (very few local places that have drama-only have really excellent programs in acting).  To excel at musical theater, you need to know dance and music.  To know dance and music, you take lessons in those.  And, presto, you have ballet and tap classes, choir, voice lessons, rehearsals for the show, plus possibly some tech theater obligations, and you're doing all of this at least 6 days a week, very possibly overbooked because you're in a musical in October, a ballet in November, and another musical in December and everyone wants to have rehearsals at the exact same time but they didn't SAY Sleeping Beauty rehearsals would be Saturday afternoons in Sept when you filled out the conflict sheet they just said White Christmas and Pinnochio rehearsals haven't been set yet for October so who knows what's up with that although you warned the director about tech week for the other show blah blah blah whimper whimper :willy_nilly:

 

OTOH, theater groups become very close social groups, since they're all working together towards a goal, and the work is very intense, and they're allowed to talk (some).  So lots and lots and lots of social time is happening concurrent to the activities.  As a matter of fact, my dd who is very introverted needs to sleep in, do her schoolwork in privacy, and recover from the experience.  I can't imagine doing this stuff while attending public school.

 I was the youngest of four and my mother only allowed each of us to be involved in one activity at a time.  

 

One thing I see here is an intensive specialization in one activity from a young age.  Kids start swim team or gymnastics or dance at age 6, and only focus on that one thing year round, often going to lessons many times a week.  As a result, if the child decides that's not her thing, and wants to switch to something else when she's older, it can be hard to start another activity from scratch at the "old age" of 12.

[SKL]

I'm not sure.  I used to say yes, before I had kids in activities.  ;)  Now I think it's a function of the way life is structured.  When I was a kid, the time from 3:00 to 6:00 was for running around the neighborhood, being with friends, getting into and out of mischief, having kid-appropriate responsibilities, being creative, etc.  I taught myself to play the piano, for example, and most kids were skinny because we played outside for hours every day.  The library and rec center were open to young, unaccompanied kids. 

 

Now my kids have to be in aftercare until 6pm.  A lot of that is sitting around.  I want my kids to move, but as the days get shorter and colder, it's not happening outdoors; plus, our house isn't within walking distance of anyplace, and dropping them off somewhere is a no-no because kids always have to be accompanied nowadays.  That's why I enroll them in indoor activities several days per week.  I choose mostly recreational stuff that requires no prep/practice.  They do piano lessons during aftercare, and practice when/if we get time at home.  We just started TKD, which is the only really "disciplined" thing they do (and I do it with them).  They do swimming lessons because I think it's a life skill.  I'm working on signing them up for horse riding lessons on Saturdays, because they want it and they are with the nanny during those hours anyway.  I don't feel it's too much, really, at least for us.  They get to move around with other kids and learn a few fun/useful skills.  It's a nice contrast to Singapore math and Accelerated Reading.  ;)  I reserve the right to change my mind as my kids get older.  :)

[SKL]

For those interested in a physical activity that is laid back, The Little Gym works for us.  They keep the kids moving, but it's not competitive.  I am sure kids in competitive programs progress faster than my kids do, but since we don't intend to use these skills for anything other than recreation, I don't care.  The cost is not bad if your family is enrolled in a bunch of classes.  You only pay for the first 3, and there are discounts on the 2nd and 3rd.  It's only for kids up to age 12, though.

[Luanne]

For the record, I am talking about parents who have their children in public or private school and not homeschoolers.  I think homeschoolers can have their children involved in more activities because they aren't at school or being transported to and from school up to 9 hours in a day.  Homeschoolers also typically don't have homework to worry about. 

[Luanne]

Yeah and I find this fact rather ridiculous.  That one is washed up from trying other activities at the age of 12.

 

What happened to doing stuff just for the fun and enjoyment of it?  KWIM?  Not everyone is going to be an Olympic swimmer or famous musician, but people have their kids throwing themselves into these things as if that is what it's going to be. 

 

My son wanted to try little league.  That was when he was about 9.  I told him I thought it was a bad idea since he had no prior experience (other than tball when he was 4).  He is not very athletic either.  I think he would have just been picked on.  But, again, there is no such thing as little league just for the fun of it.

 

My nephew who started playing basketball at a young age gave it up at the age of 12.  He was already burned out by it.  My other nephew stopped playing soccer when he finished high school even though he received a full scholarship to play soccer somewhere and it wouldn't have cost him anything to attend college.  He was just totally burned out.

[msjones]

Kids around here are booked.  They're not around.  

 

I wish it were different, but there you have it.  Sports, music lessons, tutoring, more sports (many kids do two teams at once), scouts, more sports, and still more sports.

 

My kids do most of those things, too.  But (other than the sports) they do them during the school day, so our schedule still has some space in it.