To many, the beginning of the school year feels more like a new year than Jan. 1. Children and parents are getting acquainted with new schools, new teachers and new schedules, not to mention a buffet line of new opportunities for extracurricular activities. If parents aren’t careful, they will have kids involved in three activities, going in opposite directions, and what little family time there was is now nonexistent.
How many times have you found yourself grabbing the kids from school, running by a fast-food place to get dinner and heading out to practice with one child doing homework in the car and the other throwing on their practice clothes? Many parents have resigned themselves to believing this is life as we know it, and the goal is to survive.
Before your life becomes a runaway train, now is the time to consider what is best for your family when it comes to after-school activities and the amount of time you spend together.
Extracurricular activities can make your child’s life richer, but they can also create additional stress and anxiety for the entire family. When you rarely sit down for a meal together or have the opportunity to connect, it begins to feel like ships passing in the night instead of family. Trying to keep up can be exhausting.
Here are some suggestions from kidshealth.org to help you manage activities and family time: