Wednesday, July 27, 2011

overscheduled?


i'm finding myself working toward this thinking-
 of spending regular amounts of time as a family.
if you ask anyone whose children are in their twenties, 
or older, they will advise the same.


"spend as much time as you can with them...before you know it, they
will have gone and grown up on you."

i don't know about you,
 but i used to smile and nod my head at advice like this...
now, i'm starting to see the wisdom in it..and heed it for our family.
we are allowing our children one activity, per season, to participate in.
i love that they learn discipline, committment, teamwork and participation.
those are all such good things.  
and, the great news is, 
they can learn all of these qualities by participating in one single activity!!

i worry the only downtime our kids have  
is when we go on vacation. 
it seems with so many activities, we are raising mini-adults.
why are we over-committing our mini-me's?
life is to be care-free for them-full of playtime, 
free time and maybe some chores around the house...
oh yeah, and they do have school too, don't they?  (:

in all liklihood, our children's children will have triple 
the opportunities that our children have. 
triple the activities as well.  
and, i don't know about you...
but, i would like to spend time with my grandchildren. 

we are stepping away from filling up our calendar 
with so many playdates and activities.
we are heading in the direction of spending more time with grandparents,
 aunties & uncles and their much-loved cousins. 
 and of course continuing our friendships with our precious friends...
just working at putting family first.

now, if you are my age, or younger, raising children...
you may or may not agree with me.
i'm okay with that.  
you have to do what is right for your family.  


i guess i have overscheduled myself for years, 
and the stress that comes from that can have huge effects.  
i long to break the habit of busyness for my children.
i am in a place of listening to those who have been there, done that....
the ones with experience..
the ones that regret the times that have come and gone
 and that they can't get back those precious years.  
and when they use that phrase-verbatem-i see the regret in their eyes...
and i can feel their warning...without trying to intrude. 

but with so much at stake...i invite one of my dear friends into this area of my life.  
because she has adult children now-
so, i consider her an expert! 
 i give her full permission that if she sees something
 that might be a little off-balance,
or a lot off-balance-
that she can say something.
she did make regular time for her family...and the fantastic part about that, is that her adult children, by their own choice, still make it a point to spend their time with family.

let's give our precious children their childhood, 
and let's fill it with good old fashioned time with family!