On children and extracurricular activities

Michelle of Scribbit has an excellent post about the trend of having each child in multiple extracurricular activities. She advocates for limiting each child to one extracurricular activity at a time. An excerpt:

It is more important to teach a child that there are many things that they might like to do but that are impractical, that no one has time to do everything, that the world can't accommodate every desire of their heart and that they'll grow up well-rounded and happy nonetheless.

Perhaps this is more difficult to teach a mother than it is to teach a child. Mother Guilt is a powerful force and I too have felt pangs of worry that I'm somehow placing my children at a disadvantage if they're not given the opportunity to explore all life has to offer. But in reality a child learns more about getting along with others, accomplishing something that is difficult or unpleasant, working hard and teamwork from meaningful family activities than they ever would from a soccer team.

I highly recommend reading the whole thing.