A friend of mine was sitting at a basketball game with me the other week and asked how I juggle everything lately. I told her straight up that I don’t really, it just looks like I do. She said “yeah, I usually say people who multitask get a solid B+ in everything.” I loved that and it rang true to me.
We are all so busy trying to get so many things done on so many platforms we basically fall short in all of them. Lately I’ve felt this a lot. It made me think about what we are trying to accomplish and what we’re modeling to our kids.
I think most people expect their children to figure out this balance, the dance of being part of as much as possible while still getting every box checked off. It looks different in every house but it often looks something like school, extracurricular activities or after school activities, maybe throw in some sports outside of school leagues, volunteer projects, play dates, homework … just keep throwing more in the mix.
I’m sure we’ve talked about over programming kids before and letting kids just be kids - my focus today is more about the message we are giving when there’s a constant need to fill their time, juggle more than they can probably handle, and how well they can do on any given item.
Perhaps we need to take a step back and simplify - instead of such full schedules - allow them to focus on the main event (likely school for most kids) and choose one additional outlet where they can focus their attention and truly shine. I’m not suggesting doing away with every add-on - but simplicity is key to focus.
In these last few weeks of cold winter (that’s a prayer more than a weather prediction) - it’s a good time to think about simplifying spring. Yes, it will be warm which means they will be able to be out more - but maybe that outside time should be filled with less structure and more freedom and allow them the opportunity to focus on their one extra so they can manage the A+ in it instead of the B’s in everything.