I don't think our kids do very many activities. Certainly no where near what they could be doing. Basically, they play an instrument each, do something for exercise and do church. But here's what our week looks like:
Sunday - Church (x2), Football in between for Nathan
Monday - Concert Band (Nathan), Stage Band (Nathan)- lunch time so it doesn't count
Tuesday - Orchestra (Micah), Swimming (Joel and Micah), Football training (Nathan)
Wednesday - Trombone lesson (Nathan), Orchestra (Nathan), Cello lesson (Micah)
Thursday - Concert Band (Joel), Swimming (Joel and Micah), Football training (Nathan)
Friday - Youth group (Nathan and Joel)
Saturday - Sweet, sweet nothing.
On top of that, we have bible study 3 nights a week and Andrew has meetings one other night.
The afternoons are pretty full, but I don't know what the alternative is. What do families with more kids do?
I'm not complaining. Apart from the football, I love everything that our kids are involved in.
Hmmm... The only time our afternoon schedule looked like that we were homeschooling and had fairly relaxed days apart from the afternoons.
ReplyDeleteThe other way we have sometimes coped is to have everything more or less within walking distance, and get the kids to walk at least one way once we thought they were old enough. But our boys all learnt piano, so didn't have to carry a large instrument home. I have also discovered that my idea of how far kids can be expected to walk is further than other parents' often seems to be.
Our two older ones are pretty similar to yours. They both do swimming after school one day a week (an hour and a half of pure torture for me since I have to entertain the two toddlers while they are swimming their laps, there being no space for the toddlers to swim anywhere in the complex at that time), and they do piano lessons one other day. One of them learns the trumpet but the lessons for that are in school hours. I work two days a week so they go to after school care on those days, where not a great deal goes on except for playing on the computer or with Legos. I'd love it if they did a bit more supervised homework time there. On the other weekday I do my tutoring job at Uni from 4 till 6pm so their Dad takes care of them that day and helps them out with school projects and other stuff that I find I am a bit too impatient to manage with them.
ReplyDeleteWe are also about to add a Saturday soccer game for one of them to this picture.
It feels busy. It doesn't sound like much when you say it's only one instrument and one sporting activity, but it feels like we are constantly running around. And when we are at home, I am doing a lot of harrassing them to practise their instruments. That's sounding a bit like complaining, but I just keep telling myself that in the long run it will pay off so I put myself on autopilot and get on with it. Sometimes I even manage to read something at the pool if the two littlies can sit quietly for a few minutes.
It did hit me recently that we have quite busy weeks when a new lady at church asked us if we might be free to catch up for a play one day after school. I am only going to be able to fit this in because my work contract finishes this week and then I will be able to do it on one of the days when I would have been working...
NOTHING outside of school and school related stuff and church stuff!! And it is STILL busy! But it is a different busy to what it was with a house full of toddlers. I sometimes think my head will bust with trying to keep organised who needs to be where, when and with what stuff (and what uniform on). The calendar on the wall is well written on and the morning I forget to look (or remind the kids to look) at what's written is the day we forget something!
ReplyDeleteOur kids do their piano lessons at school. They don't do sport outside of school.
They have one late afternoon at school for concert band. Next term there will be an extra one for musical practices for one of them. One is doing debating (there are only four sessions of this but they're at night at other schools spread over terms 1 and 2 and always Wed when Dan is out!).
Oldest is nearly 16 so add one with a part time job to the mix!
Then there are church related things; David goes to a youth bible study on Mon afternoons, he also meets for some 1-1 Bible time with the youth pastor on Wed afternoons); Dan's Bible study is Wed night; Peter does some 1-1 Bible stuff with another person on Tues nights and he stays for dinner; Clubhouse (for gr 4-7) every second Fri night (Dan and the older boys are leaders). Church x2 on Sun like you. And I think 2-3 Sat a month seem to have something on (working bee, men's breakfast, youth activity, etc... which at least 1 or more of us is involved in!).
I am looking forward to holidays which for our school don't start until end of next week, so one more 4 day week to get through first...
I work full time do its hard to fit in activities for the kids. My daughter learns guitar and recently started doing gymnastics two nights a week. But my boys don't do any activities yet. By the time I pick the kids up from after school care and drive home it's almost 6pm. I wish I worked a bit less so we could do more.
ReplyDelete