Busy Kids & Hapless Crickets
Let’s give some thoughts to the schedules we create for our kids. And we do create them, you know. I have no doubt that there’s a happy medium with this topic – somewhere in between our kids slouching around, endlessly watching TV or forever on their phones and the situation in which the whole family is running around, driving everyone crazy with too many activities.
As a parent, I always tried to introduce my kids to all sorts of possibilities, in hopes that they would find their niche and feel good about themselves and enjoy themselves too. I thought that maybe they would discover a potential vocation or a passion that would become a lifelong hobby. Whether it was swimming or art or music – or whatever – I wanted that for them. I never really mastered that happy medium in which the whole family wasn’t perpetually in a state of frenzy, moving from school to some class or sport to dinner to homework to bed, with no time to relax, no down time, but one of my kids attempted to do so.
One of my sons was about 6 years old and we were “introducing” him to the world of soccer. As I stood on the sidelines watching him, I saw that all of a sudden, he was moving around, bent over in the field, almost on the sideline. After it was evident that he wasn’t hurt, I started wondering what in Heaven’s name was he doing, as other players ran around, all engaged in pursuing the ever-elusive soccer ball. I found out when he was replaced with another player, that there was some hapless cricket that had somehow ended up on the soccer field and that my son was trying to save it. Clearly this made much more sense to him than chasing a silly ball. In hindsight, I wonder: who was better off – the boys actually playing soccer or the young player who was much more concerned about one of Nature’s finest?
The issue of time management is often cemented at an early age, and then it continues on way past childhood. I know myself, I am retired and yet overscheduling can still be an issue for me. It’s a balancing act between chill time and productive time for seniors too! In the course of a day, I can say to myself, “I’ve worked hard ALL of my life, and I DESERVE to veg for an hour, a day or two or year or so.” Then I catch myself immediately answering myself, “But I still want to be a productive person, so….” It’s a daunting prospect to think that schedules we create for our kids could later on impact their lifestyles as adults! Perhaps, there is a way to create more awareness over how we schedule our children's time?
So how about this? Try setting aside a brief time, for a quiet 30 minutes, okay make it 20 minutes, and parents are included too! We all need to quiet ourselves and the need for some silence is real. If you’re concerned about it taking up too much time, set a timer! I know that’s scheduling, in and of itself, but it’s scheduling to prevent an issue from developing – well worth a 30-minute investment of time, don’t you think? Or maybe set aside time for a walk or for some work in a garden. Maybe either of those could bring you and your kids a sense of calm and silence. And if none of this works, what have you lost?
I truly hope some of you will try this and let me know how it went – whatever the results turn out to be. At the very least, it raises our awareness. And isn’t that beneficial for all of the “games” we play?