Being ‘Too Busy’ Can Be Bad For Your Kids
Posted March 12, 2008 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Never mind basketball. The real March Madness comes when you try to fit in all the things you need to do with your kids during their week-long holiday from school.
There’s those hockey practices, swimming, the Spring Fling at the Rogers Centre, the museum tour, the Science Centre, the outing at the Zoo, the trip to grandma’s, back in time for the karate class, the birthday party, the climbing wall, the wave pool, a quick stop for lunch at one of those kid friendly-restaurants, soccer practice, piano lessons and the Hannah Montana movie.
And oh yeah, they were supposed to do some reading before they go back to school, so put that on the schedule.
If you can find the room.
If your kids aren’t tired yet from all of that, you certainly will be. Most parents are used to bending over backwards to ensure their children get to do all the fun things they never got the chance to try while they were growing up. But cramming it all in is a challenge for you and it may actually be harmful for them.
“I think the over-programming means that you might hit a bit of burnout,” says Jacqueline Kovacs, Editor of Today’s Parent. “I mean so much of their lives are programmed.”
Kids seem to agree. For the most part, they just want to kick back and relax.
Twelve-year-old Nicholas Popalis explained what his ideal March Break would consist of.
“Do nothing but sitting around, play X-box, watch Raptors, watch TV.”
“When the March Break is over, we have to go back to school, wake up early, go to bed on proper bedtime, do homework, 7 hours at school. It’s really stressful.”
Here are some resources you can use to find out what to do if your kids are always busy and the signs that all those activities may be stressing them out.
How Can You Tell If Your Kids Are “Too Busy?”
