Extracurriculars you regret supporting

[Anonymous]

There is this weird preconceived idea that kids can't be act8ve without all of these extracurriculars and I just don't get it. What did kids do before they had all of these activities?

[Anonymous]

We said no horses, swimming or ice activities from day one. Or travel sports. There are plenty of other activities that don't require crazy expenses, early waking hours, or lots of travel time. So far, so good.

[Anonymous]

This area is competitive, selective, and has a lot of parents with a lot of money. It means that any activity your child would enjoy _can_ be done at a level of expense (private lessons, travel teams or other "selective" competitive leagues, specialized equipment/camps/opportunities) that is mindboggling. And almost any activity that your child would enjoy _can_ be done in a calmer quieter way, which also deprives those parents of getting to complain about how much money they are "forced" to spend.

In my humble opinion, it's not about the specific actviity. It's about the mentality of the parents and the level of expense they want to throw at their "snowflake."

[Anonymous]

We didn’t do any I would be annoyed or concerned by.

[Anonymous]

Competitive cheer in late elementary school and middle school. Expensive and the makeup and costumes I hated. And the drive to Pennsylvania and Virginia Beach to compete in a competition for 3 minutes - and sometimes they were in their own category with no comeptition. Barely exercise. A total scam. The only thing good that came out of it is my daughter made the cheer team (I guess with the practice she had) in her public high school - and that was well worth it.

[Anonymous]

I have always been of the mindset they can try different things and if they stop having fun they should stop. My youngest did recreational gymnastics from the age of 3-10. Her last few years were tumbling only. She then started basketball, volleyball and track participating in the school teams. Last year at the age of 13 she wanted to start gymnastics again and joined a competitive team. As a freshman she does golf, gymnastics and lacrosse all for her high school. All have pros and cons. Does she regret the time off from gymnastics? I don't think so, she is focused now to simply improve her own performance every time versus looking at what others in her age group are doing.

[Anonymous]

Travel hockey. Insanely expensive, consuming our weekends and holidays, bullying in the locker rooms due to teams spanning two birth years, unequal playing time due to parent coaches, gossipy parents.

[Anonymous]

Lacrosse. So glad we finally pulled our DD out. She is so much happier.

[Anonymous]

Baseball. I hate sitting out in the sun roasting and sweating. I tried bringing shade, a cooler, comfy chair, etc. Its like watching grass grow while I slowly melt. Not to mention that my kid is a lefty and kept getting hit. Once that started no amount of training and extra practice could help him get over his fear of getting hit.

[Anonymous]

My husband would have said the sport we put my kids in (now teens). He hated the politics in it, the $, the drama, the BS. He wished they wrestled or did something like he did.

Well, now the oldest is seriously getting recruited at top 10/20 schools and he really loves to play so spouse is starting to see the hook it provides. Kid is a straight A student/99% test scores, but with single digit acceptance rates at these schools hopefully it helps.

[Anonymous]

Violin and tuba private lessons in elementary school. I knew these were not long-term investments and shouldn't have bothered. I also regret a couple day camps that probably were not worth it in hindsight.

I don't regret most activities and sports. All were kept to an entry level that made sense for the kid at that time. Only a couple activities continued past a basic and relatively inexpensive level and the ones that were continued have been continued for years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Club rugby in college. Over half of the team has been injured during games. Because it is a club sport there is no support for these players in navigating the college and getting supports after an injury. Our dd was injured in the spring and is still seeing a doctor about her head injury. This is a dangerous sport without coaches and should not be allowed without school supports in place.

My cousin's daughter is being recruited for women's rugby. She has had multiple fractures already. It's insane!

[Anonymous]

None, over the years we did year round swim, club volleyball x2 and club soccer x2, ballet, theatre, etc. To spend time with your kids in the car driving or flying all over, sometimes talking, sometimes arguing, sometimes silence, sometimes laughing , and sometimes crying -it was great. Those days don't last forever and you have to make the most of it.

Watching them learn, win, deal with defeat, manage relationships with teammates and coaches, all great life lessons.

[Anonymous]

Travel baseball. So much money, so much time, so much stress. If your kid isn't going to be a varsity high school athlete, it's really not worth it, but my kid loves it so much, so we continue on. Oh well, at least he's super-active and has an activity he loves!

[Anonymous]

I'm actually really surprised that parents don't remove certain activities as an option go begin with.