Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Extra Curricular

I have to admit that when Lucy quit gymnastics after she turned 3 because she didn’t like doing it herself (it was previously Mommy and Me), I was relieved. For one, I didn’t have to deal with those horrible women any longer, but also because it really put a cramp in to our Saturday schedule. We’re coming to a point though where she is interested in doing things again, and of course, gymnastics is at the top of the list. Well, gymnastics and cheerleading, but she can’t be a cheerleader until she is 7. I’m also at the point where I would like to start doing Mommy and Me with Liv, so I think we really need to start exploring the options.

Only some of The Mean Moms transferred to where we started going after the old school closed, but I don’t think I like that location. It was always complete chaos, and I don’t think that Lucy would have got much out of it even if she had stayed. Other locations that I know about are either too far away, or more than I want to pay. I have some feelers out with some friends to see if there are any that I am missing. I’d also like classes that butt up against each other, so I can do Liv, and then Lucy and then be done for the day.

I think I’m asking for too much.

The girls only go to pre-school/daycare 2 days a week. And while they’re not sitting around like lumps while they’re with Hub or my mom (I actually think there is a lot of value in going out to work with Hub), they need to be enriched. But I want to do it in a way where it does not wreak havoc on our lives. Bud does Tae Kwon Do 3 days a week after school. Even on his later class days, he is home by 6:30. We are lucky to have FIL to help facilitate getting him there and back. How do you guys do it? What do you do with your kids?

I need help!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I hate the Stepford moms, I really do.

We do tumbling on Mondays, go to the library for storytime/craft Tuesdays, she has pre-school the next three days, then Friday we leave open to have a day at the museum/park/etc. We used to do playgroups but I could not stand the other moms. I sucked it up for a long time b/c of my kid, but she didn't enjoy it that much either, so I finally cut myself free this winter.

LoriD said...

Oy. We do karate with Bart on Tuesday and Wednesday between 6 and 7PM, Orchestra practice with Lisa on Thursday between 6 and 7PM and dance with both of the girls Saturday mornings (9 to 11AM). Lisa takes violin, but she does it during school hours. Starting in May all three will start soccer, but Orchestra and Dance will both end in June. It seems a little crazy, but right now Lisa is the only one in more than one activity... I'm sure it will be even worse when Bart and Maggie are a little older.

d e v a n said...

We can only do a few activities, it's just so hard to take all 4 and not drive myself crazy. I hope you find the classes you need!

CAQuincy said...

Well, since I've usually worked full-time, and the kids were in day care or now school all day, for sanity's sake, we put a limit to how many activities we've done. It's tough, though.

We try very hard to only do two activities per kid at one season. The girls are in Girl Scouts (and yes, I'm the leader for BOTH troops), and Keith is in Cub Scouts--those go the full school year. Then Mary and Keith play soft/baseball in the spring. Usually we put them in swim lessons in the fall/winter. We've put Keith and Mary in a couple of the town's recreational dept activities--basketball and volleyball--but these are only on Saturdays for just over an hour and not really a cramp on our time or budget--yet.

It's tough even limiting each kid to only two--since that could potentially mean SIX activities to schedule in one week. And we have no local family to help, so it's just John and me trying to split ourselves into three on some nights to take care of it all.

Third child Izzy has lost out so far. We didn't put her in t-ball this year--her first year eligible--because we think that first instructional year is LAME and not really worth the $90 and the HASSLE it would cause to have three kids in spring sports all at the same time. We also didn't put her in swim lessons this winter either since she wasn't old enough to move up to the next level (level ONE), and she's more than comfortable in the water that she doesn't need to take the "baby" class again.

Mary plays violin and Keith plays cello--but like LoriD, it's through the school, so it doesn't interfere with our evenings. Izzy will start viola in the fall.

It's tough. Especially since you want to expose your kids to everything in which they show an interest. And besides the TIME and LOSS of SANITY, we can't always afford their interests, either (Keith SOOOOOO wants to play hockey. Um....sorry, sweetie! We just CAN'T do it--do you know how much that breaks my heart?).

Anyway, I hear ya.... I hope you work this out, and everyone enjoys their extra curriculars!

Misty said...

Brother is in a drama group, which he loves (not a sports guy; we tried that). But it is TIME CONSUMING. Still, he loves it and that means a lot. This summer both kids will be in swimming classes, which can potentially be every day, all summer long. Also, more drama day camp. In the fall, I am going to try Jelly Bean out in soccer, since it is so cute to watch the little bities run after the ball in a pack.

It is hard. I work and my husband works. But we both grew up pretty poor and want our kids to have the opportunities we didn't, so we make sacrifices. I am sure you will find what you are looking for though. Girls *seem* so easy when it comes to stuff like this. Dance? Soccer? Drama? What about Tai Kwon Do with Bud? That would make it so much easier...