A mother in California told me about her and her husband's decision not to re-enroll their 11 year old son in Little League because the schedule had gotten too much for the family. When she told a friend this at a grocery store, the startled friend replied, "Can you do that?" It seems that many parents view the "next step up" in sports and other activities as inevitable and even compulsory, just like next developmental steps in school. It's as if the 11 year old's mother had said they were not going to enroll their son in middle school next year. That would produce an understandable "Can you do that?" We have come to think of ourselves as depriving our children of something essential to their welfare if we say "enough" to certain extracurricular activities.

Posted by Bill at 8/08/2002 11:28:24 AM | Link