I was talking to my good friend Hal Wiley the other day and he made the comment about how busy our kids are these days. I have to agree with him as I look at the calendar and see just what my kids have scheduled for the next month. It is going to be a busy summer. Here's what I mean...
We will be missing the last day of school next week as we travel to Florida to board the Disney Dream boat and cruise with Mickey Mouse for a few days. We return home on Memorial Day. Mia will then have a busy week making the final preparations for her year ending dance recital on Saturday June 4th. The next week my little girl will attend "Arts" camp which is hosted by the local Fitzgerald Arts council. She will get to do all kinds of artsy stuff, which is right up her ally. The next week she will attend Cheer camp at our local high school and learn some new cheers that she will perform at a football game in the fall. She will also have children's church activities that will last all through the summer months, as well as a week of Vacation Bible School.
Don't think we are leaving Reid out! He will attend baseball camp at a nearby local college for a week and then attend soccer camp the week after. He will also have children's church activities and a week of Vacation Bible School. This will get us through June!!! Who knows what the other two months will bring!!
I don't remember being that busy as a kid. I'm sure that I was, but it seems to me that I spent more time playing in the neighbor's back yard than I did attending an organized day camp or activity. Times are different now. When did we change and become parents and children who have to be constantly entertained? I'm sure that we all want the best for our kids but I'm scared that we are creating a society of young people that expect to be catered to and entertained at all times. I know my son is that way. He wants someone to play with him at ALL times. He will drive you nuts until you give in and entertain him. My daughter on the other hand is a little better in the fact that she will entertain herself. She can spend hours drawing or pretending with her dolls. She is able to make herself happy. I wish her brother would follow suit!
I want my kids to have a great summer! I want them to have great memories of their childhood! I want them to have things to do! But I also want them to be able to have fun without all the fluff. I want them to have fun spending the day playing ball in the yard or running through the sprinkler. I want them to have fun catching crickets and fishing in the back yard. I want them to have fun riding their bikes and catching fireflies. That's what summer is all about! Having fun!! No homework, no school, no worries!! It doesn't always have to be a camp or a planned activity everyday! Summer can be whatever you make it! I hope you make it fun!
It's going to be a busy summer! I'm ready!
3 comments:
Mickey runs a tight ship. You could end up in the galley rowing the boats to the sound of drums. You've been warned.
I know what you mean! It's taken me three days to read this blog entry! :)
Whatever it is, it's a done deal. Living in the Mid-Atlantic, I always assumed that it was the parents driving the kids to do all these formal activities with no down time. Come to find out that it's the kids - they want to play 3 sports a year and 2 musical instruments because that's what all their friends were doing.
I'm not so sure this is set up for a simple "better or worse" test. My brothers and I got ridiculed (growing up in rural VA) for playing sports and music, etc. because we "thought we were something special." Because the vast majority of kids DID NOTHING. They barely even went to school. I remember a kid who was in the 8th grade when I was in 7th grade, 8th grade when I was in 8th grade, and 8th grade when I was in 9th grade. What the heck is that?
There are a lot of people now starting to talk about how kids need "down time" doing things like walking in the woods and catching grasshoppers. City kids or country kids, doesn't matter.
I highly recommend you read "Last Child in the Woods." I think you'll find an interesting connection with that book and your faith - the importance of paying attention to what God has created around us. And how that value isn't instilled in kids anymore (even in church, although the book doesn't go there!).
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