My Husband Signed Our 8-Year-Old up for Too Many Sports

I should have known how to marry a man who participated in all Sports as a child would mean that it would also like our daughter to be very involved in activities.

My childhood was different; I did not have time to participate in many sports. So when he wanted our 8 year old daughter to try everything, I thought it was a good idea. I thought it was an opportunity for her to have a better childhood than me.

But now I see how these sports after school affect it, and I fear that it lacks other parts of her childhood.

My 8 year old child is too busy with sport

He started little. We registered it in gymnastics as a fierceur, but she then wanted to try the competitive team as the first student.

His interests increased quickly from here. In the first year, our daughter signed up for gymnastics, basketball, football, racing club and softball. With gymnastics all year round, she has at least four hours of practice each week.

Recovering it at school on training evenings becomes a whole game of Tetris. We sometimes have to harm two training sessions per night. She also needs to go home in time for a good meal, leading to a stampede through the bath and bedtime.

Through all this, she sometimes complains that she did not have time to spend time at home.

To add to an increasing schedule, I signed our family for a 5K. During the day, we must be on the start line at 7.45 am on Saturday morning. Immediately after the race, we will have to have breakfast so that our daughter can feed for her football match at 10:15 am.

There is no amount of pressure to register for anything; We only let her do what she is interested in doing. We have a family value, however, that you follow your commitments. So when she decides to register for a season, we saw her.

She reaches a breakdown

But inevitably, he will come a time when she wants to jump training. She will ask why she can never stay at home and relax. She will start asking to skip a school day so that she can spend a mental health day.

I know it all happens because that's exactly what she did last year. It simply becomes too much for her.

I discussed my hesitations with my husband, who listens and understands my concerns. But he thinks all of this is worth it. He says we would do him a bad service if we doesn't Enter it to all these activities.

He often underlines that she likes everything she participates in. He also explains that our daughter asks to participate in these sports, which is true.

I fear that she is missing a quieter childhood

I understand the lessons that sports teach: responsibility, teamwork, discipline and friendship.

But when have we decided that having a lazy day at home does not teach him something so? Why take it out, in our garden, not enough?

I fear that if we focus too much on the filling of her schedule now, and that she decides that she does not like it, she will want to cut everything as she ages. I fear that she will not understand the joy of A activity. I fear that we are creating a mentality all or nothing in it at 8 years old.

Childhood is not a control list. I want her to remember more than just being denied. It may be time to make room for boredom and backyard adventures-and the kind of calm that does not need an inscription form.