A Day in the Life of a Busy Mom and Kids

Life with kids is like a seesaw. Sometimes the activity level is high; other times it's low. Sometimes, when we're lucky, it's just right. Busy moms try to balance kids' sports practice and games, swimming lessons, special school events, and play dates with their own demanding work schedules. One way to balance it all is to planning without over scheduling, while still making time for unstructured activities .

What happened to all that free time - When my six year old told me he wouldn't have enough free time once baseball started and he was still taking swimming lessons, I chuckled. As an adult, it's hard to realize that kids in school don't have endless hours of free time. By the time he gets off the bus he has enough time to unpack his backpack, relax for an hour, have dinner and then finish his homework. On a night of baseball practice he'll be rushed out the door and then come home in time to have a shower, a quick snack and go to bed.

Back-to-back scheduling by season - I try not to schedule too many weekly activities because I don't want to overwhelm him. There are occasional overlaps of a week or two when one activity begins and another one ends. I do want him to continue scheduled activities throughout the year. I think it's important for him to have structured, social events with friends and learn how to be part of a team.

* September through October - soccer
* December through February - basketball
* February through March - floor hockey
* March through June - swim lessons
* Mid-April through June - baseball
* July - swim lessons

Making time for unstructured activities - Kids lose 12 hours of free time due to over scheduling according to the University of Wisconsin Extension. Weather permitting we take walks after dinner and on the weekends. We go hiking, spend time at the library, read, work on arts and crafts or play outside.

Creating opportunities for interaction - When you spend so much time driving kids from one activity to the next, it's important to create opportunities for face-to-face communication. Having dinner together as a family, at the table, is one way to achieve that.

The other type of interaction that's important to work into a kid's schedule is a play date with a friend. This gives young kids a chance to play together in a more unstructured way than they do in sports or in a classroom.

It takes two or sometimes three parents to make it work - There have been times when both of my step-children had sporting events scheduled for the same time in two different locations. My step-kids' mom would take one of them, my husband would take the other. If our youngest also had an even scheduled, I would take him. Managing three different kids for three separate sports is doable, but it takes away the ability to enjoy team sports as a family.

Siblings as fans - One way to manage multiple kids when you have a busy activity schedule is to turn the outdoor event into family time. Pack a picnic, blankets and chairs for everyone, and let the whole family support the young athlete. It's especially important to the younger children that they have the support of their older brothers or sisters.

Finding flexibility at work - As a work-at-home mom I feel lucky to be able to attend all of my youngest son's school events scheduled for the daytime hours. I also get to see how many other parents find a way to rearrange their work schedules to attend the same events. It's not always both parents, and it's not always the moms.

Sometimes it's the dads or event the grandparents who show up to support the kids. Busy moms realize that pile of papers sitting on a desk will still be there tomorrow, but a first grade Mother's Day happens only once.

Sources

"Are My Kids Already Over-Scheduled?" University of Calif., Berkeley
"Over Scheduled Kids," University of Wisconsin Extension
PuttingFamilyFirst.org
Personal Experience

Content by Pam Gaulin.