Working parents — how much activities

[Anonymous]

We pay a part time after school driver to drop our kids off at sports and then we pick them up afterwards. We found our "driver" on sitter city.

[Anonymous]

What do your kids want to do? If they are happy with this schedule, I think it's fine. My oldest (12 yo) is similar, and her sport (cycling) is only a couple times a week in summer and fall. My 10 yo likes to do more, so we find ourselves saying, "no," more, since we can only do so much. She does year round rec sports (soccer, basketball, cheer team at school), but we look for leagues that play nearby. She does a handful of school clubs. We had to say no to tumbling after 6 months because it was a 20 minute drive. My 5 yo has special needs so we also take him to tutoring, OT, ST, and horseback riding.

DH and I both work FT and I don't get any WFH days, but I don't feel like they're missing out. We give them awesome summers with epic trips, family adventures (DH gets a lot of vacation time so is always taking them camping, hiking, fishing, etc), sleepaway camps, and school day out camps where they can practice their interests and learn new skills and just have a lot of enrichment and healthy fun.

During the school year we are big planners- we always have the meals planned for the week, we make easy things on nights where they have an activity, and also use a Dakboard so we all can see and prepare for what's happening that week. That way I'm not scrambling after working helping one kid find her shin guards or helping the other one find her choir outfit.

[Anonymous]

We see classmates with working parents doing travel soccer or tennis meets , and want to know how they do it. L

What type of tennis meets are you referring to? My son is on his HS tennis team and the school takes him there and back. He does JTT out of season, but the meets are often on weekends. He is in a private clinic, but it starts at 6pm so we can get him there.

[Anonymous]

I’m a networker I guess, and know a lot of parents. I’ve never had major problems setting up carpools. When my kids were younger I’d set them up in activities with a friend.

And then this year I pushed hard to get my oldest into drivers Ed and made sure she got her license as soon as she was able.