How much is too much for our kiddos??

My kids Fall back-to-school-schedules are starting to look like they will require a business manager. Seriously you moms out there---how much is too much?? I know, I know, we are the parents and we can get inspiration to know what is best for our own kids. But it helps me to talk things out, hash them around, get opinions, rethink my own thoughts, read about what others do, etc. So I am talking out loud to myself here. And one day when my kids are grown and wish I had given them more or less opportunities, they can read here....and know that I really did TRY to give them the perfect amount of exposure and opportunity in life!!

FYI, this summer my kids participated in a bunch of cousins field trips, a few neighborhood field trips, cheer and flag football sports camps, two sessions of swimming lessons, golf lessons and scout day camp for Logan, and three different weeks of dance classes for Ellie, ballet, jazz and hip hop. Sounds like a lot, but it was a good amount for us. I liked that they were exposed to some new things this summer and they were all short term activities. There was a good balance between scheduled events and free time for the kids. And it is easier for me to juggle, than for most moms...because I only have two kids and they are the same age.

But the Fall classes....we are talking more long term commitment. Things they will really spend a lot of time learning and participating in. Not to mention the monthly payments. School is out at 3:30. By the time they are home, have a snack and decompress, for all intents and purposes, it will be 4:00, and homework will still need to be done. I am so dreading all that!!!!

So, how much is too much for our kids to be involved in? One sport, one music class, and one church group? That's the typical schedule for kids around here, that we know. So for Logan that will be: flag football, piano lessons, and cub scouts. For Ellie that will be: ballet, piano lessons, and Activity Days. But....we have also signed them both up for gymnastics. Logan's flag football is only for two months. After that, gymnastics will be his only physical sport activity--which is important to have him in. And...we are contemplating starting 4-H.

Is it all just in sane? When I was a kid I took swimming lessons in the summer and a few gymnastics classes. Piano for a few years. But never two things at once....and usually no classes at all. I am sure part of that had to do with the fact that my parents had nine kids. But I don't remember wishing I could take such and such a class, or feeling bad that my best friend took dance and I did not. In fact, I went with her to many of her classes and competitions and loved it---never felt bad that I wasn't actually doing it. I loved my childhood and feel like I had the best world a child could have ever asked for.

And guess what I had the most of....free time!!! Free as a bird. Rivers, streams, tree houses, clubhouses, fields, gardens, orchards, barns, farms, animals, adventures, and serious bike rides to get to my friends houses. I know part of that is wrapped up in all of this for me. My kids live in a suburban neighborhood. It is the year 2011. I can't let them ride off on their bikes for miles to go explore the countryside. We have a very tiny, very lame trickle of a cement stream that is close enough for them to go to alone. When they are a bit older, I'll let them go to the lake alone. But the reality is that they only have a quarter acre and the park across the street to explore. No rivers, no fields, no trees big enough for tree houses, no orchards and gardens big enough to run and play games in, no barns or farms down the street. I thought I was done mourning the way my kids are growing up....but clearly I still have issues.

So, if all they do in their free time is play at the park, or in a little backyard, or watch TV or play video games....then they might as well be in lessons or on teams. OK, yes, they do create, play play dough, Lego's, blocks, cook, acrobatics, ball games, bike rides, dress-up, wars........all the things kids do. They don't JUST watch TV. But can you still see what I am saying? If I could sign them up for beginning tree house building, or how to make a clubhouse in the top of the barn, or 12 different things to do with apples right off the tree, or how to keep a fish pond, or raising an animal to take to the fair....then I would do it. But those classrooms don't exist for us.

Clearly I LONG FOR living in the country. Clearly I WISH my kids could experience my same childhood. But what if I DID live in the country, on a fabulous farm with my kids, where they could run as free as the wind. Would I still have them enrolled in dance, gymnastics, football, piano, etc???? I kinda think I would. Huh?