[Mrtambalynman]

<p>decide/schedule your kids in their various extra curricular activities?  We have T1 in Sparks and swimming and I would like to sign her up for ringette, but I have no idea what the schedule will be and I don't want to have to pull her out if there is a conflict with one of the other activities!  Grrrrrrrrrr. </p>

 

[torque]

<p>Easy!  Go ringette and throw the others away!!!</p>

 

[mrscoby78]

<p>Mine are each only allowed to do one sport/activity at a time.  I don't want them spread too thin, running from here to there, plus trying to keep up with homework, and getting enough rest.</p>

 

[NHAmyinBoston]

<p>Wow. Why would you want to?</p>

 

[RandMart]

<br><br><div class="quote-container"><span>Quote:</span>
<div class="quote-block">Originally Posted by <strong>mrscoby78</strong> <a href="/forum/thread/70371/parents-how-the-hell-did-you#post_1949574"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/img/forum/go_quote.gif" style="border-right:0px solid;border-top:0px solid;border-left:0px solid;border-bottom:0px solid;"></a><br><br><p>Mine are each only allowed to do one sport/activity at a time.  I don't want them spread too thin, running from here to there, plus trying to keep up with homework, and getting enough rest.</p>
</div>
</div>
<p><br>
Same here ... D'Kid switched from Church Choir to Girl Scouts and is perfectly happy with only one after-school activity. She's not interested in soccer or cheerleading and would really just ride her bike around the neighborhood [once her homework is done] while I'm making dinner</p>

 

[Timr1]

<br><br><div class="quote-container"><span>Quote:</span>
<div class="quote-block">Originally Posted by <strong>mrscoby78</strong> <a href="/forum/thread/70371/parents-how-the-hell-did-you#post_1949574"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/img/forum/go_quote.gif" style="border-bottom:0px solid;border-left:0px solid;border-top:0px solid;border-right:0px solid;"></a><br><br><p>Mine are each only allowed to do one sport/activity at a time.  I don't want them spread too thin, running from here to there, plus trying to keep up with homework, and getting enough rest.</p>
</div>
</div>
<p><br><br>
yep that's our rule too.  One sport/activity at at time.  But DD, who is playing fall soccer has earned an exemption for piano, but that's not as time consuming as a 2nd sport/activity. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>DD has done 2 sports at the same time and it's crazy and really not feasible as the school work load increases each year with each grade. </p>

 

[jebba]

<p>This very topic drives me crazy.  I told myself I did not want to be one of those parents with overshceduled kids.  But Miss S does Kung Fu, violin and soccer.  It's ridiculous.  Soccer is only a six week season, but then running club starts.  Running club is only 4 weeks in the fall and 6 weeks in the spring.  And now Easy is getting old enough to want to start doing some things, too.  So he takes gymnastics in the middle of the day on my day off.</p>

 

[Mrtambalynman]

<p>I guess I'd expected that each kid would do one organized sport per season in addition to scouting & swimming lessons.  I think we have the time and can still have lots of unstructured play time, but the actual scheduling of this is tougher than I figured. </p>

 

[aphigirl01]

<p>The answer seems easy - if the scheduling isn't coming together easily then you probably don't have the time you think you have and you just don't add the extra activity. A sport and another activity (like Scouts or music) is plenty for a kid.</p>

 

[yar]

<p>I'm a dad.  My kids were in more than their share of sports, etc.  But what in blazes is "ringette"?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>yar</p>

 

[jebba]

<p>I had to google it, too.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I don't know what Sparks is, either.</p>

 

[yar]

<p>Oh - it's girls' hockey.  Why don't they just say so.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>yar</p>

 

[wherestheportojohn]

<p>the Trolls also did the One-sport or One-activity at a time</p>
<p>And they were required to stick it out for the entire session, even if they hated every minute.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Hey. You begged to play baseball! I can't help it if you're bored to tears." <img alt="" src="http://files.kickrunners.com/smilies/dontknow.gif" style="width:37px;height:15px;" title=""></p>

 

[ssstencil]

<p>Mine do girl scouts.....Big girl is a wrangler and gets to work with the horses at g/s camp. It's hard between the amount of homework and projects.....and then religion classes, there is just not alot of time for them to do everything. I don't want them over worked and over stressed...they are happy with what the get to do.</p>

 

[buzzy]

<p>Actually for me it's a little of the taking the bull by the horns.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>For my kids, I coach the kid's teams for soccer so I'm able to schedule the practices to make things sure things don't conflict with their other activities such as hebrew school which is school year round, and brownies for my DD#2 again school year round.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Also... I became the U8 director (later the U6 director for my son) for the soccer league.  So again, I was able to schedule the games for when I wanted.  Most in-town soccer leagues have games on Saturdays.  All mine were on Friday nights in the Fall ( I afforded this luxury to other coaches that coach multiple teams).  Fridays are usually a dead day for activities.  Also (my daughter played baseball in the spring as well as soccer) I would reach out to the director of the same age group that we would be conflicting with and try to arrange our games schedules so there would be little conflicts.  We stated soccer got Friday Nights for games in the Spring and baseball got Saturdays.  When there was a conflict we let the coach know as soon as possible that the child would be late.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>My 2 daughters now play travel soccer (more time though), and my younger daughter has said she didn't want to play baseball anymore so that takes care of that.  My son still wants to do both soccer and baseball in the spring, so we'll deal with that, but I can use a lot of body english with his schedule since I'm in charge of his soccer league.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>DW always gets frantic about the upcoming spring seasons, but we work it out.  Sometimes you are able to snag a favor from a friend on the team to drive child to the game.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>--buzz</p>
<p> </p>

 

[Mrtambalynman]

<p>Ahem.  If you want your daughter to play hockey, you register her in hockey. <br><br>
 </p>
<div class="quote-container"><span>Quote:</span>
<div class="quote-block">Originally Posted by <strong>yar</strong> <a href="/forum/thread/70371/parents-how-the-hell-did-you#post_1949738"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/img/forum/go_quote.gif" style="border-right:0px solid;border-top:0px solid;border-left:0px solid;border-bottom:0px solid;"></a><br><br><p>Oh - it's girls' hockey.  Why don't they just say so.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>yar</p>
</div>
</div>
<br><br>

 

[jcumming]

<p>A wise person once told me that "kids need time to be bored and/or amuse themselves and parents shouldn't be constantly providing for their entertainment".</p>
<p> </p>
<p>As a Principal I found that kids who were involved in too many activities seemed to be a lot more stressed than those who weren't. Of course, at the opposite end of the spectrum, kids who lay on the couch watching tv could probably have used a little stress.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Like most things in life, balance is the key.</p>

 

[coachie]

<p><br><br>
me too. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>coach jr. is often mad, because he is only in one thing at a time.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He has a classmate that is in:  (are you ready)</p>
<p>soccer and football (same time:  fall)</p>
<p>basketball and wrestling (winter)</p>
<p>I think he just plays soccer in the spring</p>
<p>summer:  swimteam, traveling baseball, and motocross racing</p>
<p> </p>
<p>OH, OH, OH, and he's in "Dancin Dudes" the boys version of the little girls dance group in town.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>And he has two younger brothers who are all in pretty much the same stuff.  I'm not sure how his Mom hasn't lost her gizard yet. </p>
<p>(although, come to think of it, letting your kids be in that many things, maybe she has lost her gizard)</p>
<div class="quote-container"><span>Quote:</span>
<div class="quote-block">Originally Posted by <strong>mrscoby78</strong> <a href="/forum/thread/70371/parents-how-the-hell-did-you#post_1949574"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/img/forum/go_quote.gif" style="border-bottom:0px solid;border-left:0px solid;border-top:0px solid;border-right:0px solid;"></a><br><br><p>Mine are each only allowed to do one sport/activity at a time.  I don't want them spread too thin, running from here to there, plus trying to keep up with homework, and getting enough rest.</p>
</div>
</div>
<br><br>

 

[RaisingArizonainNH]

<p> Yikes. ...   I know parents who run all over creation with kids activities...  but the kids like that in SCHOOL are often exhausted!</p>
<p> </p>
<p> We allowed one activity in  1st  grade ( Scouts for DS , Soccer DD  .. and I coached...controlling scheduled practices)   DD also started  piano 1x week in spring of 1st.</p>
<p> In Second and in the following years they had scouts, and 1 sport ( fall soccer usually) and DD had her piano lesson.</p>
<p> DD kept up  piano just  a 1/2 hour a week until 8th grade.  She did one sport per season with indoor 1x a week in winter. </p>
<p>  In High school she tried to do x-country AND  band and in the edited herself to just band because she LOVES it and x=county was every day and took time from homework and down time.</p>
<p>  DS  is in Scouts still, and runs x country and throws in track.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> LOng story=== short of it.. They need limits set and they need to make choices. We need to allow and HELP them make those choices when they are young so they can learn how!.</p>

 

[Timr1]

<p>Some great points made here.  We've tried to keep it balanced and not over book our kids.  DS plays on a 8U soccer team this fall...there's 7 players on the team.  3 of them are playing fall baseball too, and one of them is also in flag football.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I wonder if parents are overbooking because kids spend a whole lot less time outdoors playing unorganized games.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>last spring my DD asked me how it was that I was in 7th grade before I played a season of little league baseball.  She wanted to know how I knew how to play.  I said, I didn't play organized baseball until that age.  But, we had ball diamond in a vacant lot in my neighborhood and we played a lot.  sometimes all day, and in the summer, everyday. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Remember when your mom would open the door and say get out!  Don't come back until you hear me yell for dinner.  Man those were great days.  That's what today's kids are missing. </p>