"The tournament has been cancelled due to..."

I kinda stop reading the email at that point because, really, do we care why it was cancelled? All we need to know is that we're not spending Saturday driving to the next state to sit in another school gym for the day, eating concession stand hot dogs and potato chips. Instead, we get a rare Saturday to sleep in, granted only for a little while because there are still two (at least) activities scheduled for the day.

It's a mark of an over-scheduled life when you feel like your calendar is out of your hands. I sit reading emails and checking phone messages with my date book and my cozi.com calendar open, putting in appointments and practices and notes for carpool so I don't forget anybody's child somewhere, including my own (and yes, I have). When dentist appointments and play rehearsal and swim practice and PTA meetings all bump into each other, that goes on the "to call" list to start shifting things around. And when I come across an empty calendar box, I start going thru notes again to make sure I didn't miss anything.

How did we get to this point? The days that begin at 5:30 a.m. and don't end until well after midnight. I want to warn my new-mom friends - don't rush, wait another year or two, even three, before signing the little one up for anything - whatever jumping/swimming/art/music/foreign language tutoring/Pre-algebra that you think they will need or are interested in before their first birthday. Because the time of sitting and watching them discover their fingers and toes will go fast.

And on the other side, I am warned by my empty or almost-empty nester friends - enjoy the hours cheering them on from the bleachers, splashing them from the pool deck, singing along in the audience theatre, helping them sell enough cookies for the next coolest prize, and driving all over town with those few minutes to talk about their day. This time before they move on to the big world of their own will go even faster.

Share in the Comments - in what sports/activities are your kids involved?

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