things we choose not to do

My kids are getting older. When I was a kid, there wasn't a whole lot to be involved with. That might have been for a couple of reasons: A: I lived in Templeton. B: I wasn't really a group sport kind of kid. I did play some things: football, baseball... but they all ended up being kind of awful experiences. Kids now have some serious choices available to them. Henry just finished Fencing lessons (not building them). Nora takes dance. Henry is in cub scouts. Nora starts soccer in a couple of weeks. Henry took soccer and T-ball, and football. We just gave him a trial lesson at Holden Martial Arts. Seems like a great place, but we decided not to do it.

I know many people involve their kids in tons of activities and it works great for them. I just can't see burying them in activities.  Henry, for one, doesn't really love sports. He likes the exercise, but his attention span for sitting around a baseball field isn't really that long..... at all. We are big on letting them choose their own things, except for music, they will all take music lessons of some sort, but as far as what they take up otherwise, its pretty much up to them. Nora loves dance, and I love that she loves it. Henry likes to explore things and look up things in books (he was just looking up what tetnis looks like under a microscope tonight. He is OK with fencing. I think Martial arts would be great for him, but Holden wanted him twice a week. I couldn't do it, not with what I know about him. Later maybe, when he is older. But as it stands, we go out as a family every Monday, he has boy scouts on Wednesday. He has had homework every night since first grade. I think he needs his space. He needs to pursue what he wants, not what he is being told to. He will get enough of that in school.

I am still looking for a martial arts place to take him to. Ideally, it would be somewhere that centers on focus and meditation, clarity of mind, singleness of purpose.  Oh, and probably, one night a week would be a great start as well.

db