I knew this day would eventually come…while I’ve tried to stay out of the race to keep up with how many activities other people’s kids have signed up for, the day has finally come when I can honestly say that if the kids ask me to sign up for one more extracurricular activity, I will lose my mind.
At the moment, Joshua has a literacy class, violin class, kung fu class, and basketball practice and games. Ethan has literacy class, kung fu, art class, and basketball practice and games.
I really want my kids to not have every minute of their days scheduled with classes and homework, with no time to breathe and be bored. I truly believe that creativity and resourcefulness come from having unstuctured time to explore whatever happens to catch their interest at any given moment. I want them to be able to have time to ride their bikes in the park, to catch bugs, lay in the grass and look at the sky, to appreciate quiet time and nature. Now I find that I have to fight for this precious time for them.
When Joshua first asked me if he could take violin lessons when he was in the first grade, I tried to discourage him. I asked him to wait at least another year, but he kept begging me until I finally gave in. After three months of agonizing Friday afternoon lessons, he finally said he wanted to quit. I was ready to let him, but I had forgotten to cancel that day’s lesson. He went, and afterwards decided that he wanted to continue. I groaned inwardly and asked his reason. He said, “Because I’m not a quitter.” Well, that was that.
Then Ethan surprised me by saying yes when I asked him if he wanted to join basketball this year. He has always said that he hates anything involving a ball and really hates anything where you need to follow rules. I assumed he would say no when I asked him, so when he said yes, I couldn’t not sign him up. And even though his team has not won a single game, he is proud of himself and I am proud of him for stepping out of his comfort zone and daring to try something new.
It’s only going to get harder to maintain a balance in their lives between structured and unstructured time, but now I can see that both are necessary and have unique benefits.
But, if I have to take them to another class, I will seriously lose my mind…
