This summer I decided to give my car a break.
Instead of pulling in and out of karate, basketball, swimming, piano, soccer, gymnastics, art, cooking, and ceramics class parking lots, our family vehicle has been cooling its wheels in a shady garage.
Score one for the aging Nissan… and for the aging mom.
The preschooler, well, she’s not sharing our joy.
Not entirely anyway.
After months (make that years) of juggling a less than relaxed routine of classes, activities, playgroups, and kiddie seminars, I figured I’d trade in the overscheduled routine for a more laid back summer schedule; one that would allow for more flexibility, relaxation and the occasional overindulgence of ice cream and extra rounds of mini-golf.
My first step was to pull out of several ongoing enrichment classes that my daughter has been enrolled in since she was two years old. Next, I sat her down and we made a list of only the activities that she was sure she couldn’t live without, including basketball, soccer and swimming.
So that was our plan. Three structured activities interspersed with good old-fashioned summer fun, such as strawberry picking, slumber parties, trips to the amusement park, camping, hiking and biking.
It’s not as though I was forcing my child to go cold turkey on her structured activities. After all, she was the one who complained about not having enough time to “play” on the mornings I would beg her for the 50th time to get dressed, so we wouldn’t be late for class.
Yet, as we hit the midpoint of summer I notice that instead of embracing our somewhat relaxed schedule, my daughter is instead asking when she’ll be able to get back to ballet and cooking class and football and t-ball and… and she also wants to know when she can start horseback riding lessons, Irish dancing and violin.
According to childhood experts, my kid falls into the “active” category, which means that she doesn’t need much downtime to relax and recharge. To find out if your child could benefit from a reduction in structured activities, experts suggest you experiment with a modified schedule that mixes periods of play with time to recharge. Once you know how much downtime your child needs, then you can find the right balance between having your kids veg out in front of the TV all day and running around like a decapitated chicken.
Are your kids skipping the structure for the summer?