Hockey. Gymnastics. Soccer. Swimming. Music. Dance. Trampoline. It is not difficult to fill up your kids' schedule with all the amazing extracurricular programs out there.
In fact, we put a lot of pressure on ourselves to get our kids involved. "As parents, we've got to get over our anxiety that we're not doing enough," psychologist Paula Bloom told CNN.
She adds that there are more important things to focus on: "Creating a sense of safety, helping kids have confidence to try certain things, those are the things that matter."
Think you may have gone overboard? Parenting expert Alyson Schafer provides the tell-tale signs that our kids are over-scheduled in the video above.
Being in too many activities can have a negative effect on more than our schedules.
“The only place where I say stop is where the child starts to say his or her performance determines his or her self-worth: I am as I can perform,” says Suniya Luthar, a psychology professor at Columbia.
Many psychologists agree that it's all about finding balance.
“Enrichment activities are perfect,” Alvin Rosenfeld, a child and adolescent psychiatrist and author of “The Over-Scheduled Child” told the New York Times. “They add a lot to kids’ lives. The problem is, we’ve lost the ability to balance them with down time, boring time.”
Now we just need to add down time to our schedules.
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