What is overscheduled?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Each kid juggles 4 activities each week plus many other priorities. They are not stressed at all and like what we do.

We?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When my kid gets their athletic scholarship to Stanford they’ll thank me later

That’s how I see it

[Anonymous]

OP - what works for your family? Your DH? You? Any other siblings? No one person's enrichment activities get to complicate the life of the whole family. You didn't say it did. It's likely ok. But the family unit, as a whole, comes first - what's best for the Family.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Each kid juggles 4 activities each week plus many other priorities. They are not stressed at all and like what we do.

We?

My DH and I are intertwined with some of the activities and priorities

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Doesn't seem like too much to me. Busy kids have less time for trouble! Signs of too much would be constant complaining, never has time to be bored and self entertain, not getting enough sleep, anxiety

I don't agree with the trouble premise. First of all, not all kids are going to do those things. And then, overscheduling may make it harder for them to get into trouble, but not impossible. It doesn't take away a kids desire or curiosity for troublesome behavior.

Look up how Iceland solved its teen drinking problem

I've read it. I still don't think kids should be overscheduled.

Ok, you are free to do what you want with your own kids! Enjoy.

The part that I don't get is, I understand that they may have less opportunity, but how are activities stopping them wanting to drink? That doesn't just magically go away

DP. Lots of teenagers drink because they're bored/looking for something to do. Extracurricular activity participation is generally connected to lower rates of substance use.

I just I guess think teens should be able to entertain themselves without getting into trouble. I think I'd be so mad at my kid if they did stupid stuff because they were "bored."

Kids and people in general do stupid stuff when bored all the time. It’s human nature.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:I admit we over scheduled this year. Weekly music lesson - necessitates daily practice. 2 days martial arts, 1 day ice skating, weekend language school on Saturdays (also means homework on weekdays). My kid loves all these but didn't get enough free time to just read which is their favorite activity. We also had then in aftercare before some activities since we WOH. Summer will be camp, swim and music.

Even tigers need to rest

Lol true. Will regroup for next school year, but at least there is no time for whining for video games .

Haha! So true.

[Anonymous]

To me, if it's a kid feels like they don't have enough free time or they're missing out on other things for extracurriculars.

[Anonymous]

The day that my kids had ski team practice in the morning and I drove three hours to get them to their swim meet at 430. I know we’re over scheduled.

[Anonymous]

It really depends on the kid. Some kids are overwhelmed by school. Some kids do two activities each day and still have more energy after that.

[Anonymous]

I think listening to a kids wants is great, but I don't think you can go off of that entirely.

[Anonymous]

Parents' jobs, number of siblings, and availability of family help don't affect whether a particular kid is overscheduled.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Parents' jobs, number of siblings, and availability of family help don't affect whether a particular kid is overscheduled.

Sure they do. If you are always having to tag along to your sibling's practices/games/lessons because you only have 1 available parent at that time, it means you have less time for your own practices/games/lessons. If instead grandma can watch you or your parents can go two different directions, then it is a very different feel.

Yes sideline siblings basically goof off the whole time, ideally with other kids, but it still is less completely free time.

[Anonymous]

I think a hige motivating factor of overschduling is fear. Fear of giving their kids free time and fear of giving them freedom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parents' jobs, number of siblings, and availability of family help don't affect whether a particular kid is overscheduled.

Sure they do. If you are always having to tag along to your sibling's practices/games/lessons because you only have 1 available parent at that time, it means you have less time for your own practices/games/lessons. If instead grandma can watch you or your parents can go two different directions, then it is a very different feel.

Yes sideline siblings basically goof off the whole time, ideally with other kids, but it still is less completely free time.

You assume older kids can’t watch younger kids or there are no carpools. Everyone’s life isn’t as bleak as you're thinking. There are many ways to mitigate this that people can take advantage of.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parents' jobs, number of siblings, and availability of family help don't affect whether a particular kid is overscheduled.

Sure they do. If you are always having to tag along to your sibling's practices/games/lessons because you only have 1 available parent at that time, it means you have less time for your own practices/games/lessons. If instead grandma can watch you or your parents can go two different directions, then it is a very different feel.

Yes sideline siblings basically goof off the whole time, ideally with other kids, but it still is less completely free time.

You assume older kids can’t watch younger kids or there are no carpools. Everyone’s life isn’t as bleak as you're thinking. There are many ways to mitigate this that people can take advantage of.

Sure, carpools and having a kid old enough to watch a sibling definitely mitigates. But those are factors, just like parental availability or having grandparents around. If all your kids are 7 and under, no child of yours is watching a sibling at home. If you have a 17 year old, you can conceivably make them drive an elementary sibling to an event (whether you should might be a different question).

This goes back to the idea that "overscheduled" isn't just kid dependent, but also family and situation dependent.