When your kids start school, a whole new level of busy hits. When it was just one child, it seemed fairly easy to just drag the other one along. But, since the second child started school … woooo … there are just not enough hours in the day.
I noticed the difference last fall and thought that perhaps it was just me not being organized enough or structured enough to make it all work. I changed some routines and tweaked a couple of lifestyle areas. Nothing really changed.
By the spring, I knew that we just had too much going on. What I had blamed on the kids’ over-scheduling turned out to be a family problem.
2 kids doing school full-time
2 parents working 40+ hours outside the home
1 child taking 60 minutes of dance
1 child taking 90 minutes of art
2 kids taking 60 minutes of choir
1 parent working freelance up to 5 nights per week
Pick up this one. Drop off that one. Check is due for this kid. Forms are due for that one.
Although I vowed we would cut back, we’ve added 30 additional minutes of dance. Other than that, nothing has changed.
It’s an odd mix of wanting to have a well-rounded child and being sane by the time the week comes to an end. We hear so much talk about children needing to start activities when they are young. In Texas, if they want to have a fighting chance at school teams and competition activities – you can’t wait until the 7th grade to start learning to trade.
I strongly believe in the programs that the kids are enjoying, and we surely can’t work any less and still make ends meet. But, I live by a calendar and find it hard to get a minute of uninterupted personal time. Story of every mom in America, I know.
Do you have any tricks of the trade? Hearing from other parents is the best form of learning … share what you do! What keeps you sane by the end of the day?
Yeaaaah…so I don’t buy into the “start ’em while they’re young” thing here. I do hear it a lot, but if that means my kid won’t make a varsity sport…so be it. I don’t like life when it gets over scheduled and I start dropping things right and left. Mike is even worse, his idea of overscheduling is not spending an entire weekend on the couch watching football. Ok, that’s a slight exaggeration.
I totally understand…ours looks something like this
50+ hour work week dad (plus call and after hours shifts)
20 hour a week mom with a 45-60 minute commute
6.5 hours of gymnastics and 6.5 hours of dance a week daughter
3 hours of gymnastics a week son who does soccer/basketball/baseball
and the poor 2 yo who isn’t in anything
we homeschool, so at least we don’t have to drop off and pick up there, but the house is messier because we are always home during the day.
I wish I had a solution. I try to cook as much as I can on the days I am home and utilize the crock pot so we are asking “what’s for dinner” at 8 when Claire gets home from dance or the gym.
Activities are their time, they socialize, exercise, and Claire is on team for both so she gets to perform and learn teamwork. I can’t imagine having to tell them they had to cut back. But, that being said, they no they can’t do anything more right now. Andrew chose not to dance this year to play basketball and baseball (they are different seasons). And CLaire realizes this may be the last year we can fit in competitive dance and gymnastics.
I wish I had more advice. I will be tuned in to see if others had tricks of the trade to share.
Advice? Only this. Stay focused on the prize. Sounds like you’re already doing that. Unfortunately, the state of things dictates that we keep the kids on the road, going from here to there. We did it with our girls, and the results speak for themselves! When they were leaving for college, we knew we could send them with a free heart, that we’d prepared them for the rigors of real life.
If I had a cent for every hour I spent waiting in the car for piano or percussion lessons to let out (sometimes I’d nap or just lay back and rest), I could retire. No doubt you’re already done this. Occasionally I’d run an errand in that hour, but the hour of being still was great! I turned it all off and desensitized – the minivan was great for that!