But now I am torn. There's not enough time or budget for the kids to do all the things I want as well as all the things they want. I am having trouble prioritizing. So naturally I thought I would ask the internets how they resolve this dilemma.
Is a climbing class a good idea? They're always climbing on something.
*How many activities do your elementary school aged kids do?
*How do you choose what activities your kids do?
*What activities did you do as a kid that actually helped you as a teenager and/or adult?
*Are two half hour activities too much for a first grader to have in one day?
Ironflower would like to take 4 hours of dance, piano, theater, jewelry making, horseback riding* and soccer. Lovebug would like to take his favorite sports class at the Y, martial arts, soccer, basketball, science, hip hop, baseball and swimming.
I'm also trying to plan for logistics like I can't be in two places at once and how many times a week HugMonkey can be entertained by my phone.
And costs.
Now do you see why I need a spreadsheet? And advice?
*This one is not going to happen because we have not won the lottery. But it's on her list.
4 comments:
Only you know what's best for your family, what you can handle financially, and what your kids are capable of doing physically. That being said I will share the advice I have...
A very wise and very good friend (and my daughter's former kindergarten teacher) who has three teenagers (two of whom are twins) told me that she started her kids with one sport and one arts activity per season/semester. When they were younger they did the same stuff and tried lots of activities for short periods of time. Now that they're older they have figured out which things they like. For example, one twin does softball and dance while the other also plays on the same softball team and plays piano. Her son wrestles and plays guitar. They all eat dinner as a family (all 5 family members) most nights each week (like 5 out of 7) because they are not over-scheduled. She feels this is more important than sports or activities and her teenagers do it with very little resistance. Even friends are required to sit at the table whether they eat or not and they are made to feel welcome.
We are trying the same thing for our kids. C is starting piano this year and she played t-ball and soccer. She didn't like soccer, so this fall we'll go back to gymnastics. We figure this will help with her desire to climb everything in sight (she likes rock climbing). J also played t-ball and he loved soccer so he's doing it again this fall. We won't start piano until he's older, but he also expressed interest in learning a different instrument (like trumpet or guitar) so we may try something like that.
I guess my advice would be to have each kid pick one arts activity and one sport to do. They can always change at the next session/season. I was a nanny for some kids who did several ultra-competetive sports/dance activities from age 5 on and they were burned out and tired by age 11 and neither of them is a college athlete or olympian now that they're grown. I think family time spent together is just as important as giving kids a chance to try new stuff. There needs to be balance. Also, keep in mind that Hugmonkey will want to do stuff soon, too.
OH. NO. I just typed a HUGE comment and the internet ate it. Ahhhhhhh! Geez. GEEZ!
Alright, let me try this again.
We've cut waaay back on our activities. The year Julia was in first grade (and I had Phoebe) we were waaaay overscheduled. I feel like we're still recovering! It burned us all out. We're still trying to find the right balance.
I like the idea of a physical activity and an arts activity. (The arts activity tends to take precedence in our house.) I think it's a valuable experience to be on a team, too.
Now, Julia takes piano, and cheer & tumbling. (Cheer & tumbling are back-to-back on Saturdays, so they feel like one thing. My bank account knows differently, though.) In the fall, she runs cross country. In the spring/summer, she plays softball.
Lucy takes piano. She might try dance (again) this fall. She's also starting preschool, so I'm taking a wait and see approach. She's a bit of a homebody and seems to need more down-time than Julia.
Phoebe goes to Kindermusik.
I don't really have any advice as I struggle with this whole thing, but I am finding that when it comes to extra activities, for our family, less is more. The quality of involvement decreased as we added activities to our schedule. We'd go to piano each week, but skip practices because we were so busy. We spun our wheels there all year. What a waste!
Extra activities are great, but they aren't as important (to me) as they used to be. I agree with the advice above about family dinners. I think the benefit that comes from that experience outweighs anything an extracurricular activity can provide.
The thing I've been asking myself lately is: If I didn't remind the kids about their activities, which ones would they miss and ask to go to on their own?
See, this is why I posted about this - I knew I would get great advice. Though I'm very sorry about your original comment, Leslie! Anyway, I think the biggest problem this year is dance - she's advanced enough now that it's beyond an hour a week, it's 4. And that's a lot. But she loves it. Ahhh!
Due to the high physical demands of her dance class, I would consider doing it in place of a sport and go with dance plus theater or music lessons? She could save the sport for next summer and take those coveted riding lessons. . .
We (I) have been trying to talk C into Irish dance, but she has been resistant : (
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