Editorial
Deborah Wuehler,
Senior Editor
How Much
Is Too Much?
The Overwhelming Choice of Outside Activities
Some days, I have so much to bal- ance that everything flies out of orbit and hits the ground with a big thud. When I add in activities
outside the home, then I often feel even
that much more out of control and that
much more behind schedule of where I
am supposed to be. Oh, and where exactly
is that again? On the other hand, I also feel
that my children would be missing out if
we bypass all those great activities that
are calling our names so loudly. I believe
it takes prayer and wisdom every month
of every year on how involved your family
can or should be in anything.
The Home
The balancing act in all of this is learn-
ing what to turn down and when to add
another activity. Probably the first thing
to consider would be the temperature of
your home right now. Here are the ques-
tions I would ask related to the home:
• Is there a lot of stress in the home
already?
If you are already feeling guilty that
you cannot get dinner on the table every
night or do basic housekeeping chores
adequately, you might need to think
about what activities are draining your
time or energy. If your home life is already full, you will need to reconsider
taking on another activity or take something else off the calendar to fit in something new. We must learn to evaluate not
only the short- and long-term benefit of
the activity but also how this extra activity will affect our home and our family.
The Family
Often, when we do too much outside the
home, it throws off our family’s ability to
bounce back and complete the important
things such as finishing necessary homework or simply regrouping and thinking
clearly. Weariness could affect our ability
to react graciously. Sometimes adding
new activities not only takes new energy
but can also require time following that
activity to get back to a normal, operational state. These are things we need to
take into consideration.
If we are always preparing and racing
to get somewhere, our home and family
may suffer. We need to weigh the pros
and cons as we consider the state of peace
in the family.
If you see a very necessary or fruitful
activity for one child, you should also
consider the whole family. Many years,
our outside activities looked like this:
one sport or one extracurricular class
per child per semester or season or year.
In other words, we did not have every
child in a sport or class every year, but
they took turns. One year we had one
child in a sport, the next year we had
one or two children in an extra activity or class, and maybe one year we had
some type of family event. During the
years when we had newborns, we tried
to stay home. During the years we were
running college students to class and
jobs, we didn’t do much more with the
younger ones.
We can provide opportunities for our
children without having to do it all at the
same time or even within the same year.
We make choices—maybe art lessons
this semester, maybe choir next year. Obviously, the fewer children you have, the
more outings you can manage, and the
more children you have the less you want
to be out. Because we have a large family,
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