How many activities are your children in?

A guest post on Sane Moms


Do you wake up early and rush to get ready (and sometimes still leave the house with wet hair)?  Do you rush the kids to get up and get going – so you can rush them through breakfast, rush them to school and rush yourself to work?  Do you rush around all day at work so you can leave on time and rush home so you are not late for the bus or day care pick up?  Do you rush through homework, so you can rush to after school activities, rush to come home to make dinner, cram food down your throats, rush through baths, reading and bed … to rush off to sleep so you have the energy to do it all again the next day?

If this sounds familiar, you are not alone!

Some of this is the life of a mother, but other parts can be avoided.  How many activities are your children involved in?  How many commitments do you have during the week?  Is there anything you can start crossing off your list?

I know some children and families thrive on lots of activities and scheduled events.  Most kids I know are in 2-4 activities at a time.  A good friend of mine has a first grader who has something every day of the week, and is as happy as a clam. If I were her mother, I would have a nervous breakdown.  I don’t like to rush.  I don’t like to be over scheduled and I need family down time.  My kids say they want to do it all…dance, music, art, soccer, martial arts – you name it. I have enrolled my kids in more then one activity at a time, and it didn’t work so well.  They were stressed, they didn’t enjoy their time, and I felt like I was paying tuition to drag them to participate.   It wasn’t fun for any of us.  This year they were allowed to pick one activity.  My 5-year-old daughter wanted to take dance, and my three year old chose to stay home and play with his toys-works for me!

Our mornings are still a bit frazzled, but our evenings are so much more relaxed.  We have no commitments on the weekends.  We don’t rush through our tasks; we take our time and connect with each other.  The kids even get bored every once in a while and are forced to use their imaginations and think outside the box – instead of being entertained by outside stimuli. I don’t know how long the one activity rule will be in effect, but for now, it works.  It works for them and it works for me.

Have you found your happy medium?

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Heather is a life coach for moms, a middle school counselor and a mama who is committed to rocking her mojo! She has two extremely “spirited,” independent and strong-willed children who test her, teach her and exhaust her…several times a day!  You can read more about her atMy Mama Mojo.