What’s really worth it during the elementary years?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sport is a priority, because a lifelong habit of regular exercise is so important for health.

Then math, because a strong foundation in elementary school math is essential for getting through life.

And then they end up obese adults I wonder wgy

People think childhood athletics is like a vaccine against adult weight gain. It's not. A lot of overweight adults are surprisingly active and spry for their age, but they also like donuts and pizza too much, so they don't stay slim. If you want your kids to be slim their whole lives, you also need to indoctrinate them about diet from an early age. And even that does not always work, people get to a certain age and they stop caring, no matter how deep the conditioning was. The best you can hope for is that they are slim and attractive in their 20s and 30s when they need to find a spouse.

Couldn’t disagree more. Getting movement and fostering a love of activity is more important than “indoctrinating about diet”.

Diet and establishing healthy eating habits are much more important than organized sports long term. And people who over-schedule their kids in lots of activities will never admit how much junk food and fast food they have to eat out of convenience. "My kids are healthy because they are in 1-2 sports per season," she said while eating Chipotle between games.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sport is a priority, because a lifelong habit of regular exercise is so important for health.

Then math, because a strong foundation in elementary school math is essential for getting through life.

And then they end up obese adults I wonder wgy

People think childhood athletics is like a vaccine against adult weight gain. It's not. A lot of overweight adults are surprisingly active and spry for their age, but they also like donuts and pizza too much, so they don't stay slim. If you want your kids to be slim their whole lives, you also need to indoctrinate them about diet from an early age. And even that does not always work, people get to a certain age and they stop caring, no matter how deep the conditioning was. The best you can hope for is that they are slim and attractive in their 20s and 30s when they need to find a spouse.

Couldn’t disagree more. Getting movement and fostering a love of activity is more important than “indoctrinating about diet”.

Diet and establishing healthy eating habits are much more important than organized sports long term. And people who over-schedule their kids in lots of activities will never admit how much junk food and fast food they have to eat out of convenience. "My kids are healthy because they are in 1-2 sports per season," she said while eating Chipotle between games.

Well she’s a 🐷

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sport is a priority, because a lifelong habit of regular exercise is so important for health.

Then math, because a strong foundation in elementary school math is essential for getting through life.

And then they end up obese adults I wonder wgy

People think childhood athletics is like a vaccine against adult weight gain. It's not. A lot of overweight adults are surprisingly active and spry for their age, but they also like donuts and pizza too much, so they don't stay slim. If you want your kids to be slim their whole lives, you also need to indoctrinate them about diet from an early age. And even that does not always work, people get to a certain age and they stop caring, no matter how deep the conditioning was. The best you can hope for is that they are slim and attractive in their 20s and 30s when they need to find a spouse.

Couldn’t disagree more. Getting movement and fostering a love of activity is more important than “indoctrinating about diet”.

Diet and establishing healthy eating habits are much more important than organized sports long term. And people who over-schedule their kids in lots of activities will never admit how much junk food and fast food they have to eat out of convenience. "My kids are healthy because they are in 1-2 sports per season," she said while eating Chipotle between games.

Oof here I am defending people who put their kids in tons of sports, which is actually something that annoys me (I don't have a sporty kid and the fixation of organized sports in elementary can be socially limiting in a way it wasn't when I was a non-sporty kid).

BUT I think you're generalizing in a way that isn't accurate. The families I know with tons of sports are not just eating crap all the time. Maybe some do but the ones I know are meal planning and great at packing healthy snacks and meals on the go. They are the people who will break out containers of sauteed veggies and rice and tofu on the sidelines of a little league game because they've done it so many times they know how to transport entire home cooked meals easily. In that situation it's my family, who doesn't do a ton of sports and eats at home almost every night, who is rolling up with Chipotle.

I know it's fun to try and paint people who parent differently than you as terrible in every way, but it's usually wrong. For instance I know people who I'm certain think my family is snooty because we DON'T do tons of sports and our kid is in artsy activities and is shy on top of it, so we don't know as many people and tend to be more reserved generally. But we're not snooty-- were actually very friendly and easy to get along with! But people make assumptions because our lifestyle seems unfamiliar to them. We're actually super normal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sport is a priority, because a lifelong habit of regular exercise is so important for health.

Then math, because a strong foundation in elementary school math is essential for getting through life.

And then they end up obese adults I wonder wgy

People think childhood athletics is like a vaccine against adult weight gain. It's not. A lot of overweight adults are surprisingly active and spry for their age, but they also like donuts and pizza too much, so they don't stay slim. If you want your kids to be slim their whole lives, you also need to indoctrinate them about diet from an early age. And even that does not always work, people get to a certain age and they stop caring, no matter how deep the conditioning was. The best you can hope for is that they are slim and attractive in their 20s and 30s when they need to find a spouse.

Couldn’t disagree more. Getting movement and fostering a love of activity is more important than “indoctrinating about diet”.

Diet and establishing healthy eating habits are much more important than organized sports long term. And people who over-schedule their kids in lots of activities will never admit how much junk food and fast food they have to eat out of convenience. "My kids are healthy because they are in 1-2 sports per season," she said while eating Chipotle between games.

Oof here I am defending people who put their kids in tons of sports, which is actually something that annoys me (I don't have a sporty kid and the fixation of organized sports in elementary can be socially limiting in a way it wasn't when I was a non-sporty kid).

BUT I think you're generalizing in a way that isn't accurate. The families I know with tons of sports are not just eating crap all the time. Maybe some do but the ones I know are meal planning and great at packing healthy snacks and meals on the go. They are the people who will break out containers of sauteed veggies and rice and tofu on the sidelines of a little league game because they've done it so many times they know how to transport entire home cooked meals easily. In that situation it's my family, who doesn't do a ton of sports and eats at home almost every night, who is rolling up with Chipotle.

I know it's fun to try and paint people who parent differently than you as terrible in every way, but it's usually wrong. For instance I know people who I'm certain think my family is snooty because we DON'T do tons of sports and our kid is in artsy activities and is shy on top of it, so we don't know as many people and tend to be more reserved generally. But we're not snooty-- were actually very friendly and easy to get along with! But people make assumptions because our lifestyle seems unfamiliar to them. We're actually super normal.

Are you sure you're talking about elementary sports? DS has been in a lot of different sports with different crowds and the amount of junk snacks and sugary drinks given out constantly is crazy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sport is a priority, because a lifelong habit of regular exercise is so important for health.

Then math, because a strong foundation in elementary school math is essential for getting through life.

And then they end up obese adults I wonder wgy

People think childhood athletics is like a vaccine against adult weight gain. It's not. A lot of overweight adults are surprisingly active and spry for their age, but they also like donuts and pizza too much, so they don't stay slim. If you want your kids to be slim their whole lives, you also need to indoctrinate them about diet from an early age. And even that does not always work, people get to a certain age and they stop caring, no matter how deep the conditioning was. The best you can hope for is that they are slim and attractive in their 20s and 30s when they need to find a spouse.

Couldn’t disagree more. Getting movement and fostering a love of activity is more important than “indoctrinating about diet”.

Diet and establishing healthy eating habits are much more important than organized sports long term. And people who over-schedule their kids in lots of activities will never admit how much junk food and fast food they have to eat out of convenience. "My kids are healthy because they are in 1-2 sports per season," she said while eating Chipotle between games.

Chipotle is hardly the worst food possible. Your point falls flat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One thing that's NOT worth it is the birthday parties. Go if you're free, but don’t twist yourself in knots to make one unless it’s a very best friend. Even then, many ES very best friends are friendly acquaintances by HS.

Yes, BUT for heaven’s sake, RSVP no as soon as you can.

[Anonymous]

Spending time one-on-one with your child is the most important thing you'll ever do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Basic skills on an instrument, reading music, and understanding music a little are valuable life skills.

I can't do any of those and never could. It has never held me back in any stage of my life that I cannot read music of play an instrument. It is fine that you like those but they are options - not basic or essential.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Basic skills on an instrument, reading music, and understanding music a little are valuable life skills.

I can't do any of those and never could. It has never held me back in any stage of my life that I cannot read music of play an instrument. It is fine that you like those but they are options - not basic or essential.

+1 if you want your kids to learn and instrument, then I think it's useful to start early. But it's definitely optional.

Most of these responses are. The answer to OP's question is totally dependent on what your values are and honestly, how much money you have.

[Anonymous]

I’m always amazed at how many church goers there are on this board. In real life, I know zero religious upper middle class people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m always amazed at how many church goers there are on this board. In real life, I know zero religious upper middle class people.

Broaden your circle. I don’t happen to be one, but they exist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m always amazed at how many church goers there are on this board. In real life, I know zero religious upper middle class people.

Do you know a lot of people? The people I am closest to know we are religious, but otherwise it doesn’t generally come up as convo topic. If you have a large enough circle of friends and acquaintances, it’s likely there are some.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m always amazed at how many church goers there are on this board. In real life, I know zero religious upper middle class people.

Broaden your circle. I don’t happen to be one, but they exist.

+1

[Anonymous]

Our philosophy has just been to expose them to everything and see what clicks.

I have one kid who started out very young doing gymnastics, dance, soccer, swimming, a second language, art, two instruments… as a slightly older elementary student they decided they wanted to ride and sail (so none of the physical activities they started with were actually a good fit). They do one instrument very seriously and are now fluent in the second language. For fun they also climb and ice skate. They did not ultimately follow up with the after school clubs they signed up for as a younger kid (robotics, chess, gardening, art stuff, running) but started gravitating towards DnD.

The other kid is 7 and has tried swimming, soccer, riding, martial arts, tennis, rock climbing, ice skating, an instrument, another language, painting, ceramics, etc. None of it has really clicked. They sort of enjoy swimming, climbing, and ice skating. But more than anything they like being out in nature around animals, computer/robot stuff, gardening, cooking, taking photos, and reading. I feel like this kid got a bit interrupted by COVID.

Having them sample these activities has been quite time consuming. But it’s been worth it to see the older kid find their passions. Hoping that will happen for the second one, too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our philosophy has just been to expose them to everything and see what clicks.

I have one kid who started out very young doing gymnastics, dance, soccer, swimming, a second language, art, two instruments… as a slightly older elementary student they decided they wanted to ride and sail (so none of the physical activities they started with were actually a good fit). They do one instrument very seriously and are now fluent in the second language. For fun they also climb and ice skate. They did not ultimately follow up with the after school clubs they signed up for as a younger kid (robotics, chess, gardening, art stuff, running) but started gravitating towards DnD.

The other kid is 7 and has tried swimming, soccer, riding, martial arts, tennis, rock climbing, ice skating, an instrument, another language, painting, ceramics, etc. None of it has really clicked. They sort of enjoy swimming, climbing, and ice skating. But more than anything they like being out in nature around animals, computer/robot stuff, gardening, cooking, taking photos, and reading. I feel like this kid got a bit interrupted by COVID.

Having them sample these activities has been quite time consuming. But it’s been worth it to see the older kid find their passions. Hoping that will happen for the second one, too.

Am I reading this right? Your kid is now into dungeons and dragons after throwing the kitchen sink at them