Why exactly *are* so many of us overscheduling our lives?

Do you spend more time in your car than your house?
Do you eat more meals in the car than at your kitchen table?
Do your kids see more of the back or side of your head than your face?

If you stay home, you will have to spend time with your kids. You will have to talk to them. They will want your attention.

If you stay home, the mess and clutter is going to get to you. You will have to clean and pick up. You will have to let some things go.

If you stay home, you will have to cook.

If you stay home, you will have to have conversations and quiet moments. You will have to compromise more with the other people in the house with you. You- and your children- will have to find ways to entertain yourselves.

Does all that scare you?


Running around from place to place all the time eliminates the need for 90% of the above.
And in a way that makes life easier- sort of. Superficially.

I am beginning to suspect that a lot of our need to be on the go all the time comes from a desire to escape normal life and responsibility. If you're never home, then hey- it's not your fault if the bathrooms don't get cleaned. If your child is in three different activities a week, then, yes, it is easier. That's three times a week you are off duty. Driving a kid from place to place is easier for the mom than another game of Go Fish or fixing another snack or standing outside while the kids ride their bikes. Someone else is in charge of your child. You're off the hook.

If you're scared and running in circles, is that any way to live? Is stress your best friend?

Think about it. Maybe it's time to be honest with yourself. Maybe it's time for some changes.

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I don't believe in miracles; I depend on them

I honestly think that I like to be busy. I don't think I am running from anything. I enjoy people's company. I like my kids to be involved in sports and activities. It keeps them healthy and well rounded. I enjoy working on committee and YES, I enjoy being away from my family at times.

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~Happiness is a large family~

I was just saying to DH last night that one of the few things we have done right with our kids is that we haven't dragged them around everywhere so they are happy to stay at home and don't bug us to take them places. They (ages 6, 4, and 2) get up every day and expect NOTHING. They are perfectly content to stay here and play with each other. We have friends who are very over scheduled (even in preschool) and the kids are miserable.

I love to be home alot of the time. My kids aren't in any organized activities but we spend several days after school at physical therapy for one of my sons which is a necessity. On weekends we are go go go which is because my husband hates to be home.

The past few weekends have been extra bad and I am terribly behind in housecleaning, grocery shopping, the whole shebang.

I love summers when I am off from work because it gives me time to just clean up and regroup, the kids play in the patio or we do little projects, I teach them things that interest them.

A lot of the time I resent working outside the home and my kids having to go to school. I think there is a bit of a nonconformist rebel in my heart. Sometimes I fantasize about just "dropping out," and doing things my way.

I know quite a few people who definitely keep their kids in activity after activity because they don't know how else to keep their kids busy. I'm not saying that's everyone - but I've some people I know actually say that to me.

With our last job we were on the road all the time. All the time. I am so thankful that we are beyond that. I'm finding that I'm actually enjoying our time at home -- minus those few snow days that I was completely crawling the wall and probably on here complaining a lot!

I think some people know nothing else but to stay super busy because that's what they've done all along. Sometimes I wonder if it's just a case of follow the leader? Perhaps some people work so much in order to keep afloat, that all their spare time is spent in bed before having to get up and do it all over again.

I think a lot of people are running on high gear like a hamster on a wheel going everywhere but nowhere if you know what I mean.

It's a shame that at this particular time in history simplicities are a scarcity. We really need to "smell the roses" however, not many people have the time to even water them.

The same for many children in our time. Not much time is available to even nuture them the way they should be. It's a fact. The state of the family unit has deteriorated in our society and our rat-race lifestyles certainly play a part.

No, I'm not afraid to stay home. LOL I also don't feel overscheduled either. I also don't 'have' to do anything.

I *want* to spend time with my kids...I *want* to cook them a great dinner...I *want* to keep our home clean and happy. Maybe I'm a weirdo...hard to say! It's balanced with me doing things with my friends and family, volunteering, going on day trips - just doing my thing. I have a good balance that works for me.

When my kids were small, I took them out every day. I just like getting out and about!

Everyone is different...what might seem 'overscheduled' for one family, could be just great for another.

I have found that most SAHM are never really at home. When my son was a baby I too was crawling the walls to just get out of the house. I think for me it was such a drastic change from my life before children. However I have learned how to balance the two pretty well now. I think it has to do with our priorities. For me if things are well taken care of at home and I want to get on the computer or have a play date then thats great. But, if I let my child and husband suffer just so I can do what I want then there is a problem. I think we can all fill our days up with stuff but when we look back 10 years from now we will regret we missed those times with our kids.

We stay home. During the day we do not leave. We take care of the house, do school and play. In the evenings we leave on Tuesdays to get groceries and Wednesdays for church. Saturdays we mostly stay home, and Sundays we are gone to church and with my family all day. We never eat in the car. I am VERY big on eating at the table together for all meals. I like it this way. I enjoy being home and not running. Being out and running wears me out quick.

Now, in the summer my boys have baseball one night a week and my dad races on Fridays so that makes it two less nights at home. It is okay since it is summer only, but I also get wore out alot faster. And my girls want to get back into dance in the fall, which is very exciting but I also know it is one night out a week.

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Jenifer
Proud wife to one amazing man
Proud mom to four awesome kids

Fall is my favorite season!
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your path straight." Proverbs 3:5-6

I like being home. I have three boys who are allowed to participate in any two activities at a time (can be a club, group, sport, etc). So we are currently busy with Boy Scouts and hockey and basketball. But it's a doable amount for us.

What I do sometimes feel when I look around at those overscheduled folks we come in contact with is a nagging that maybe I'm not doing right by my kids by not letting them be in EVERY single thing they want to be involved in.

Then I look at my dh and my boys and know that they are happy and there is love in our family and that we're doing the right thing *for us*. It took a while to get comfortable in my own skin about that, but those feelings are few and far between for the most part now.