Scheduling in Downtime

Q. My nine-year-old son wants to sign up for music lessons, swimming, karate and computers, but I’m not sure how many activities he can handle or we can afford. Is there a guideline of how many extra-curricular activities he should do?

You’re wise to take a big-picture look at the situation before signing your son up for every extra-curricular activity going. Not only do you have to keep tabs on the cost of all of these activities: you also have to consider how much they time they would require from week to week—both scheduled time for lessons and games and behind-the-scenes time for practices, team fundraisers, and music recitals. That time commitment can really add up if your child is involved in multiple activities (particularly at a competitive level which requires a lot of travel), if you have multiple children to shuttle to various activities, or if you’re a single parent or the only parent available to drive your child to extra-curricular activities.

Other points to consider: Does your child cope well with a lot of structured activities or is he the kind of kid who benefits from a lot of down-time? What else could your child do with his spare time (like riding bikes with his friends; getting hooked on a great novel; having fun with the family)? Don’t feel like you’re depriving your child of the perfect childhood if you aren’t providing him a smorgasbord of extra-curricular experiences simultaneously. Kids need time to be kids.