Thoughts on being too busy and doing too much too young...

This time of year is particularly busy.  DD has extra dance rehearsals for her Nutcracker performance. We have little holiday parties that we've attended and more coming up.  Friends and family are coming to visit; even close friends from the Outback are coming to visit in a few days!  Then to top it off, LD's gymnastics coach has asked if he wants to move up to the next level.  He'll have his assessment on Tuesday.

Quite frankly I worry about being too busy.

My concern is that his practice will go from once a week for an hour to twice a week for two hours each (evenings, of course).  Having to put ED in the car to pick up LD in that 6:30-7pm time frame is a hastle as she ALWAYS falls asleep on the (5 minute) way home.  Now I can of course have her teeth brushed and in pjs, but then she's up at 5:30am (an hour earlier) which kills me. Even if she hasn't fallen asleep, she's prone to temper tantrums at that time of day... embarrassing!

I also worry about over-scheduling my kids. I worry about the kids doing too much too soon in their lives.  Do you know what I mean??  In the fall, LD had soccer practice twice a week plus a game.  He always had to miss one practice for his gymnastics class (DD's dance class was at the same time, so there was no way we could have made it to soccer anyway). But doing both, allowed him to enjoy rather different sports.  So, while I'm happy to let LD try out for gymnastics (he loves, loves gymnastics and seems to have an affinity for it because he is constantly walking on his hands and doing cartwheels etc.), how does he try other things out? What does this mean for joining things like cub scouts?

I do like the fact that he can have a good workout during the cold months.  Yet, I also worry about injuries that can occur from doing things too rigorously too young.  I was always a reasonably good jr. high and high school athlete but remained injury free. As a result I've enjoyed a lot of amazing athletic experiences as an adult such as backpacking in the Rocky Mountains, Appalachian Mountains, in Nepal, New Zealand and Tasmania (Australia).   I've run a half-dozen marathons (including the Boston twice and the Sydney Host City Marathon which followed the Olympic marathon route and ended in the stadium), played field hockey and soccer for the past 10+ years.  So, I really want to protect the kids' health/bodies from doing too much too soon.

Do you have that same worry about over doing it?? In that way, I am so grateful to have so many lovely hours together as a family growing and learning as homeschoolers.  But I sure do worry about the balance in our lives. Do you?

Thanks for listening to me vent!!