I hate extra-curricular activities. No, wait, let me explain. When I was younger, kids got to be kids. We played with our neighbors, did our chores, spent time with family and played (did I say that already?). Extra-curricular activities were for junior high and high schoolers. Now, everyone starts their kids at age five in some sort of sport or artistic activity. Parents pay big bucks for their kids to be involved in these activities and family schedules revolve around them . Pfffttt...
If you decide to buck the trend and make your kid wait until he or she is older, they're simply screwed. My younger son just turned 11 and has started asking about baseball. The neighbor's dad (the son is in baseball) made the off-hand comment that my son should really start practicing because every other kid has been involved since they were five. So can my kids ever compete? Will they always be woefully behind because I didn't have them in soccer every season since they were six?
I have news for you. Kids need time to play. To figure things out on their own. To learn how to handle peers without the structure demanded by adult-led programs. Kids need to know that the world does not revolve around them. Kids need to know that relationships are more important than activities.
We're raising kids who don't have responsibilities at home and whose families' lives revolve around THEIR sports/arts.
And we wonder why young people think that everything should be handed to them.
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