Advice for working mothers on managing children's activities.
Use the following tips to manage the activities your children participate in and maintain a smooth family schedule.
1. Prioritize and simplify
The most important thing to do is to look at how you spend your time and to prioritize the optional activities. To start, make a list of all your family's obligations; include your work, the kids' school, church and family gatherings. Then, list all of the extra activities everyone currently engages in or has interest in; this includes things like volunteering, playing soccer, ballet and club memberships. For seasonal items, indicate the months they affect. For example, if soccer goes from September to May and swimming lessons are only in July and August, these 2 activities may both be able to fit in the schedule easily.
Once you have the list, discuss each family member's priorities. Decide how many activities the family can reasonably support, for example one per child, and work together to pick the best one to pursue.
While children initially may feel a loss since they may enjoy multiple activities, ultimately they are likely to feel relief; over-scheduling is extremely stressful for every member of the family. Children need unscheduled time to play and relax.
2. Seek balance
Look at the kinds of activities your family spends their time doing. It is important to balance the way your children spend their time. Since their days at school may be spent on intellectual pursuits, it may be wise to sign them up for physical activities. Similarly, if children are going to take multiple enrichment classes, consider a dance class and an art class instead of only physical ventures.
3. Keep a family calendar
Simply writing down all of the commitments you have made can help you control your time. Keep a master family calendar - paper, white board or electronic - somewhere the entire family can easily access it. List practices, classes, games and other commitments. By seeing the big picture it makes it easy to plan ahead for days with conflicts and you won't find yourself trying to drive kids in two directions at once while you are supposed to be in that important meeting.
4. Look for activities that do not require your time
Because working parents are so busy, many activity providers are trying to make it easier for kids to participate regardless of their parents' schedules. For example, some schools allow dance schools or music teachers to come on site and conduct classes or lessons during free periods or after school. Children can participate in these activities without a parent's time being required to deliver them; this can alleviate Mom's schedule while providing the child with the desired enrichment.
4. Share responsibility
To ease the scheduling stress, share responsibility not only with your co-parent but also with other parents. Talk with other mothers and see if you can help one another with carpools or other assistance. For times when no parents are available, hire a trustworthy college student to shuttle kids. The cost can be minimal if it is shared by a couple of families.
Whatever solutions you try, remember that in addition to giving your children opportunities you are teaching them the value of their own time and priorities.
