[Rans.]

"For those who work and manage a few more hours of adult time while their children are cared for in out of school hours of elsewhere, lucky you. You’re probably having your afternoon coffee about now. For the rest of us the long haul before bedtime now begins."

This statement makes my blood boil......

You really do have it tough don't you Amity

[Wild Strawberry]

I prefer having 2 full time school kids to having little kids. Life is so much easier now. Yes there are some difficult times when i feel like i am herding cattle in the morning, dealing with DS1 who gets cranky when tired from school, the monotony of school lunches, school runs and dragging a toddler to school everyday but i much prefer being a school Mum to one with a toddler and a baby.

You need to relax and enjoy your life more. Your overscheduling problems are your doing not your sons. My boys do swimming and DS1 has started after school sport and that's it. If they have energy to burn after school we go bike riding/scootering, to the park/pools/beach/friends house. Life is as difficult as you want to make it. I am glad you have realised only doing 1 or 2 after school actvities is best for your son and your own sanity.

[countrymel]

Amity... you CAN stop the over scheduled train. You are both the driver and the brakeman.

Your child's multiple after school activities stressing you out? Well cancel them. Bung him in the backyard and see what he comes up with on his own.

[Kailing]

"For those who work and manage a few more hours of adult time while their children are cared for in out of school hours of elsewhere, lucky you. You’re probably having your afternoon coffee about now. For the rest of us the long haul before bedtime now begins."

This statement makes my blood boil......

You really do have it tough don't you Amity

Agree! I'm the breadwinner and have to work full-time - and not being there to pick my daughter from school is one of the things I really, really miss. If I'm so "lucky", let's swap for a day ....

Plus, why do you have to drive to school? How many of our generation used to be driven to school? Unless your local school is absolutely horrific you've made a choice that involves you driving, so you need to just accept that.

[BadCat]

School kids are a doddle compared to babies.

Don't like running here, there and everywhere? Then don't. They don't need a million different classes and sports and playdates. They just don't.

I'm the parent here. I control the kids and not the other way around.

[KristyMum-]

Amity... you CAN stop the over scheduled train. You are both the driver and the brakeman.

I would second that you get to choose a lot of things.
after-school activies
tv in the morning (our rule is none before or after school fullstop)
etc preprep and prebake gets me a long way lol

Also, I don't know if it's worth weighing up 'what's worse' - because it's different for everyone and can change for your own situation in any given month for whatever reason.

One of my more challenging challenges has been to do morning drop off, lunchtime Kindy pickup, afternoon school pickup, all with a toddler and NB in tow (each who would need to be woken/would fall asleep at one end or the other, one that hated the car) and not a lot of sleep being on 4hourly medication and pretty much doing most all of that on my own + 2 out of school activities total (long time committment from way back), running the house etc. For me that was a challenge at the time. Things have changed and there's other things I find hard now... and I know that. BUT

I don't feel the need for a 'hardness competition' iykwim
I don't see challenges as being harder or easier neccesarily... more that they're different, with different ins and outs, pros and cons.
each stage in life brings both, sometimes at different levels.
For some it's too many choices and income to make them
for others it's not enough of either
and for plenty of us it's inbetween + 'just life'.
There seems to be some pride in middle/upper class of overscheduling and complicating life and then complaining about it...
at the same time, you don't have to fit that bracket TO have a complicated/busy life.

AND I get choice in there too.
a lot of us get CHOICE. Too many people don't.
So make the choices where you have them, to change things.
Make a plan to cope with the rest
prepare and prebake
and then enjoy the ride as best you can. Hard on the cruddy days and hard if you have a lot of them (sickness, outside stress etc) but a good start I reckon.

I do believe kids benefit from unstructured time to just be kids, play with their friends, explore the world in their own way/time.

same.

This post has been edited by KristyMum-: 24/02/2012, 03:56 PM

[Guest_Starletta_*]

For those who work and manage a few more hours of adult time while their children are cared for in out of school hours of elsewhere, lucky you. You’re probably having your afternoon coffee about now. For the rest of us the long haul before bedtime now begins.

What is stopping you from getting a job if you think its so easy for working parents?

[RatbagBob]

Good point Starletta

And really, what a white whine. There are pros and cons to everything. I'm sure there are many people here who envy you the luxury of being able to stay at home and pick your kid up after school everyday, who would love not to have to put their kids in afterschool care where they get more and more tired and then struggle to get home in time to do all the homes work etc.

HTFU.

[MrsNorthman]

#firstworldproblems

Sounds like a parenting course might be of benefit, for you of course, you are the parent yes?

[Helena Fembo]

Want a tissue for your issue, Amity???

Do you really find it that hard or is this just a look at how many activities my kid does, aren't I oarsum?! Did your son ask to do all those things? Is it actually about him or is it about you being able to brag about it? You know, it's not actually that hard to figure out the answer to your dilemma, and it certainly isn't blog worthy....