NP here. As parents, and even as kids, we can also say "no" to playdates with kids/parents/families we don't particularly like, and often give some type of prior commitment as an excuse. That's a lesson for you and your kids: not everyone wants to socialize with you. If you are hearing "no" a lot, it might not be that everyone has to go to soccer practice. Thanks for your little PSA. There's mine. Sometimes being "busy" is an excuse, and the reality is, we don't want to hang out with you, and you're not taking the hint. The More You Know... |
No one wants your kid knocking on their door inviting themselves in so you get free babysitting. |
Why? |
It’s none of your business if the friends are juggling 3 sports. You parent your kid, we’ll parent ours. |
Honest suggestion from a happy sports mom - consider a screen free sleep away camp in the summer. Your kid will enjoy the companionship. |
And they us find for your family. But don’t expect my family to be home all the time because you need a play date. |
You're really oversimplifying this OP. I'm also a big believer in down time and giving kids an opportunity to de-compress and use their imaginations. Some kids are legitimately overscheduled.
But my kids really love sports and chess and martial arts and art. I spread it out through the year and they have an afternoon or two each week to just play, but otherwise they're pretty darn busy. They have benefited enormously from all the things that go along with learning something--you start as a beginner, gain frustration tolerance as you try to master the skills involved, learn how to cooperate with others in different settings, gain confidence as you master the skills, develop a work ethic as you see what it takes to get good at something, and eventually make decisions about what's important to you and how you want to spend your time. Sometimes a kid needs a push to continue something you know they will enjoy once they are over the hump of the learning process. Not all activities outside of school are some vapid exercise. I'm trying to expose them to things they might love and if they don't, we move on. It's a constant balancing act. Maybe give other parents some credit for doing what is best for their specific kids. |
My kid needs an immense amount of physical activity to stay emotionally regulated. Having said that, I would never skip an activity to go to another one, and I would never complain about how busy we are. It's a privilege to be able to provide these experiences for my child. |
How am I selfish? I didn't say no sports at all, I just said that there will be reasonable limitations and boundaries. |
It's sad that overscheduling has become the norm. |
Sad sad sad |
The problem we've had with sports is that some kids get good very fast and so it's hard to keep up. And when they are little you don't want them just doing one sport because it pigeonholed them. So a lot of times we do two with one being a background sport for the season. |
Talk about selfish. Your kid's "background sport" is my kid's main sport. |
Good news he’ll get playing time that week |
I’m afraid we meet OP’s description. I complain internally about it but to no one else (except on dcum of course). My DCs are in a sport where everyone who is good at it is intense, and if we aren’t intense ourselves, they will not be on par.
Wish it weren’t a rat race, but it is what it is. |