Parenting Under the Stars

When deciding what activities to put your children in, the question really should be “How much time, effort and money am I willing to put into this sport, music, lesson, or whatever?”

I was recently reading an article in the paper (can’t remember which paper or what day) about sports and kids. About how parents have sacrificed all their free time and work around the house time to attend sports events all over their state and maybe even neighboring state. About how they are paying tons of money for their chidren to hone their skills in their chosen activity. The author asked the question: Is it really prudent to focus all a family’s resources on the activities their children want to do?

Most parents, by instrict, would say of course not. Don’t I as a parent deserve to have a life too, and not devote my every waking hour to molding my child into what society thinks they should be? Or what my children are passionate about? Apparently, many parents are saying “no” to soley devoting their lives to helping their children become a “star” in their chosen area.

This is a hard question, especially if you have talented children, children who excel in one thing or many things. First, off how do you choose which talent to develop? And is it wise to “put all the eggs into one basket?” What if that activity turns out not to be so perfect as you thought, and your child has missed out on other opportunities?

Hmmmmm. As a kid I remember participating in tons of activities–tennis, dance, softball, violin, piano, track and gymnastics. I did all of these things (not all at the same time!) from the time I was in kindergarten until I was about 17. As a result, I have a little taste of all of these things, but I’m not really good at any of them. I’m a “jack of all trades, master of none,” as the saying goes. I’m OK with that. I would have missed out on a many great opportunities like student government and working on the student newspaper, if I would have been too busy at one activity to have time to try anything else.

I love the book “Confessions of a Slacker Mom”by Muffy-Mead Ferro. She makes so many good points about following instincts. She says, “But I do hope it (the book) will give you enough to mull over that the next time you hear from some magazine, TV show, friend or in-law about the latest thing that you as a parent, are supposed to do or buy, you’ll pause. And if you hear your inner voice saying something like “yuck” you’ll listen. That’s a good sign it’s something you can skip, and you and your children might all be better off.

She has a great point. What are your opinions?