A few months back, an acquaintance made a casual remark about how she understood that our family was “against” outside activities. I suppressed a smirk at the time, primarily because I am very familiar with being grossly misunderstood.
What I’ve said, vocally, repeatedly, and with enthusiasm, is that there’s nothing wrong with not pursuing a full slate of outside activities. There’s no shame in being selective, or in saying it’s not your thing, or in refusing to be strong-armed into signing up for every sport, dance team, and scouting opportunity offered. You can say no. Your kids will be o.k. In fact, they may be better off.
On the other hand, there’s nothing wrong with saying yes, if you choose.
Right now, our family is in a season of saying yes. Is life busier than I’m thrilled with? I’m not going to lie— it is. We’re doing a lot of back and forth, and it’s not my happy place. But, as each individual yes was measure in prayer, I know that we’ve landed right where we’re supposed to be.
Jack and John Mark are running for a local homeschool cross country team. It’s a Christian group, and I have enjoyed time with the other parents to bits. The focus is 100% on giving kids the chance to set and achieve personal goals. The team meets twice a week for practices, meaning that we are missing a chunk of the family for dinner those nights. In an effort to maintain our priority of “everybody at the table,” we’ve placed more of an emphasis on lunch, something we have the luxury of doing since Christopher works from home when he’s stateside. Meets are not weekly, but regular. The blessing of this team is that each meet has it’s own RSVP list, meaning that if one doesn’t fit your schedule, you can pass. I wouldn’t want to maintain this commitment year-round, but for the short window of the season, it’s worth the compromise.
Civil Air Patrol is still a constant. Jack is his squadron’s current First Sergeant. In addition to weekly meetings, there are Search and Rescue Exercises, training opportunities, online tests, and a billion other things to be done at any given time.
And then… there’s music. Birdie is still playing violin. She has weekly lessons, and just auditioned for what will hopefully be her second season with the Youth Orchestra. John Mark is continuing on with cello, as well. And now… Simon has joined them in the weekly drive to the Conservatory. He had his first violin lesson and was quite delighted to be able to play “Mississippi Hot Dog.” Suzuki parents, you know what I’m talking about.
Does therapy count as an “activity”? No, not really. But still… people, I have three kids in therapy. So guess what? Every single non adult in this house has a thing. And all of those things happen outside of my house.
So am I “against” outside activities. Obviously not. But am I glad this isn’t our norm? You’d better believe it.