The point of these activities isn’t just to be amazing and passionate about them.

He will gain skills along the way. He will learn to interact with a wide variety of people. He will be off of screens and developing himself.

It’s really ok to do it the way you’re doing.

He has done 8 different sport activities over 2 years?? That seems like a lot of shopping around. Which activities did he enjoy most while enrolled in them? Try sticking with those couple activities for more than a season or two.

My cousin was like this and just did whatever his mom signed him up for. He stuck with a few things and got good at them. He ended up getting into an Ivy and becoming a medical doctor. DS’s 9 yo friend is also like this and I’m curious to see what happens as he gets older.

I don’t see a problem. Sometimes living in DC can make you try to “keep up with the Joneses” even with skills because everyone seems to be so achievement focused with top careers etc. What I have found is that many of these accomplishments are probably embellished and people even brag about things that they don’t even truly enjoy doing because they just like the accolades. Another portion of kids will drop all of that stuff the moment they leave home and many have resentment towards their parents for pushing so hard. I would prioritize your child’s happiness and mental well being over any type of achievement. If people would stop and observe how depressed and anxious so many of these kids are while living that sort of elite sports lifestyle, many of us would not want to follow that path. Your kid sounds well balanced!

Does he love drawing? Music? Reading? Writing? Computers? Plants? Movies?

Expecting boys to be "passionate" about a sports so limiting. There's more to life than sports. And I say that as someone who is passionate about a particular sport!

Not every kid has a passion. As long as hes not on screens all day hes fine.

Sounds like you want your kid to have a passion for sports specifically

Would you be ok if he just didn’t care for sports?

What is it you want?

I mean, I hear what you’re saying. But you have an 8th grader who seems to be above average in school and who is trying out a lot of sports, some of which he’s done for years? I get you want him to have a passion. But his path seems pretty good to me!

What does he do outside of sports?

What about walking or running?

My kid has no passion in any specific things and he is average in everything, except school academic. He is still doing multi sports, and he does not care much if I stop any of his sports. He is not skilled in any sports. In the past 2 years, he has tried soccer, basketball, table tennis, tennis, swimming, fencing, rock climbing and kayaking. Some last for months, and some last for years. Some has been stopped, and some are still ongoing. Is that maturity or personality that he does not care? Yes, I can afford to pay whatever he does not hate, but I wonder if he should eliminate to only 1 or max 2 sports by the end of middle school.