Dad's rant: I'm going to let my kid be a kid on the weekend, dammit.

[RandySF]

My son just started first grade. He has an 8-hour school day beginning at 8 a.m. Every day he has language arts, math, science, social studies, Spanish and religion/philosophy (it's a parochial school). On PE days (Tuesday and Thursday), he comes home and I can feel the dried sweat on his body. He walks out the door every day with a tired look on his face and he still has 20 minutes of homework and 10 minutes of reading ahead of him after dinner. He has almost no free time before he takes a bath and goes to bed (including story time) and he has to repeat this five days a week. And some other parent tells me I have to keep him busy on the weekend? I'm glad their child takes karate on Saturday and skating on Sunday, but I'm the one who watches my kid fall asleep as soon as his head hits this pillow. I'm going to let him reast, play and be a kid on the weekends. If that makes me a bad parent, then so be it.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

1. good dad

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. I think that makes you a good parent, my dear RandySF...

Kids really need down time, time when they can just be kids.

It's not good for them to have every minute programmed. Free time allows their brains to grow in directions that we might not have thought of. It helps their creativity too...

Your son is lucky!

[AverageJoe90]

9. This, +1000. =) nt

[Lady Freedom Returns]

3. We adults get two days off.

If we push our kids into 7 day work weeks, no one will have a day off.

[Skittles]

4. I hope he does not mean this

[RandySF]

7. He's allowed 1 hour of video games per day on the weekend.

Beyond that, he plays with his toys, goes to the park, the Salvation Army Rec. Center or some other activity.

[Skittles]

8. awesome

[RandySF]

17. And yes, even some tv.

[Skittles]

20. LOL

you're making me remember my dad - he allowed us to watch LOST IN SPACE - that was it, because he said TV was a COMPLETE WASTE OF TIME. Of course, that did not apply to baseball, football or boxing.

[bluesbassman]

5. Sounds good to me.

Too much pressure on kids these days.

[K8-EEE]

6. I think a lot of people over-schedule their kids without realizing how stressed this makes them

What I did is, if the kid WANTED to be on the tennis team or whatever, I would encourage it; but I certainly DON'T think that having free time to read, play, and relax is "a waste of time." I think it is necessary for mental health. Some parents expect little trophy kids, push them like crazy and then wonder why they tune out, do drugs or whatever as young teenagers. A lot of times they just get burnt out. Learning to relax is a necessary life skill!!

[orleans]

10. kids have been over scheduled for the past fifteen/twenty years

it seems like the last few years (resession times?) parents are cutting back on some of the activities but it's probably more about finances than letting their kids take a fucking breather.

[seabeyond]

11. i made the same choice myself. if the boys wanted to participate in something.

but, they had plenty of socializing and outside time with school. i was not going to keep it going until ten at night week nights and weekends.

we thought it was a good choice.

when the kids got older, they found their interests. now son also works a little during school and more on breaks and spends a lot fo time with cross country.

but young, we kept a mellow house.

[rrneck]

12. Goodonya. nt

[nolabear]

13. Research says unstructured play begets creativity and intelligence.

Like all creatures, little ones need to spend a lot of time practicing being people, pretending grown-up activities and imagining themselves in all kind of situations. The less time they have to do this the more they are (generally) good at doing rote tasks and worse at being emotionally intelligent and creative.

You are a good dad. If your son gets interested in something he'll let you know. Meanwhile, let him rest and grow.

[pipi_k]

14. Parents who think

all kids are alike piss me off.

Even kids in the same family can differ as far as their energy level goes.

I never had the sort of school schedule your son has until I got to Junior High, but even as a small child, I needed more alone time than a lot of other kids.

Still do as an adult.

To recharge my batteries.

So I applaud you for allowing your son to rest and recharge his batteries until such time as he might decide he wants to do more. Or not.

[HopeHoops]

15. That actually makes you a GOOD parent. They push kids too hard in younger years.

Hell, my wife's kindergarteners have to take fucking standardized tests. Most of them get all the answers right, but they don't grasp the "fill in the oval" thing so they score low. They circle, put an "X", write in, or otherwise indicate the correct answer, but because they don't fill in the oval, it doesn't count. Why the hell are they putting kids that young through such torture?

[Arugula Latte]

16. Good job, dad.

When our kids were in elementary school, we let them do one organized extracurricular activity at a time -- if they wanted to. If not, that was just fine. They did a lot of things like digging a giant a hole or making a fairy house out of leaves and sticks.

[pipi_k]

18. Hahahahah!!!

I knew what you meant, but found this pretty funny...

They did a lot of things like digging a giant a hole

Why are they digging giant a holes, and where are they digging?

[Arugula Latte]

19. My son was really into the hole when he was little. Why? Because he could, I guess.

It's still in our backyard. I've filled it in with yard debris.

[tblue37]

22. pipi k was being amused by the typo in your post--digging a giant "A-hole." nt

[Arugula Latte]

23. Hah!

[sadbear]

21. I'm with you

1st grade is way too early to burn out. There's more to a 6-year old's life.