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

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.

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.

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.

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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.

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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.

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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

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

That’s how I see it

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?

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

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

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Anonymous wrote:Overscheduling threads are wild. I'm participating in one on the sports forum. Alot of ppl don't acknowledge it as a real thing

I think almost everyone agrees that overscheduling is by definition bad. However, the threshold for overscheduling is highly subjective. The folks on the sports board trying to impose their definition of overscheduling on every family are quite comical.

I’d like to know where people draw the line. An activity per week day? Never having two activities on one day? Certain number of hours per week?

I think it's hard to put an exact amount for each week. Some times of the year are just busy but I try to make sure that there's a weekend or week where we get a break. Fall and spring always seem packed with sports, back to school/end of school, etc but for us the winter is a much quieter time. The holidays give a long break and while my kids may take tennis or swim lessons they're not competing every weekend so it's around an hour a week for each activity.

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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."

The rational part of a teen’s brain isn’t fully developed and won’t be until age 25 or so. They are often making decisions through emotion rather than logic so aren't always thinking through consequences in the same way as an adult. It's not an excuse but a reason why it's good to encourage your teen to be involved and have responsibilities.

I see your point, it would still make me mad if my kid pulled that though.

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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."

The rational part of a teen’s brain isn’t fully developed and won’t be until age 25 or so. They are often making decisions through emotion rather than logic so aren't always thinking through consequences in the same way as an adult. It's not an excuse but a reason why it's good to encourage your teen to be involved and have responsibilities.