Parenting

Yes, because all those activities are completely worthless.

If that's one of your reasons for not having children, please don't.

 

What she said.

 

What's wrong with reading, painting or learning a musical instrument?

 

Saw this thread and thought, 'well, if this doesn't bring Lugz back, nothing will.' Miss you around here.

 

What 21 said.

 

Of course, reading, etc and playing outside aren't mutually exclusive. Kids can actually do both without their parent's involvement.

A friend of mine once sarcastically said, "The difference in parenting between us and our parents is simple: our parents ignored us".

 

Am I the only one who read Mr. Sonner's comment with an implied blue font?

 

No such creature as an "implied blue font"

 

I didn't get a chance to play a lot of organized sports when I was a kid, much to my regret, and I was determined that my kids would have those chances. In other words, I was going to push them into sports.

My oldest was the guinea pig. He played hockey in the winters and in the summer he played either baseball, soccer or lacrosse (never more than one per season). He had some talent, and I happily encouraged that talent. I'll never forget the first goal he ever scored in a competitive hockey game - it was the first of four he would score that day.

But it eventually became clear that he really wasn't keen on organized sports. And, by that time, my two younger sons had also had their fill of soccer and neither of them expressed an interest in anything else.

Hmmmm, I pondered - do I keep forcing them do things they don't even want to do, blowing hundreds and hundreds of dollars a year, knocking myself out trying to have them here, there and everywhere all at the same time? Nope. And none of them have played an organized sport in years.

But they all swim, play road hockey, run like the wind and do other activities that get them outside and enjoying themselves. They also like to read and be artistic; my oldest son, the talented but reluctant athlete, has become a fine young guitarist and drummer and has been helping his brothers learn to play the instruments. And I couldn't be happier with their development as people.

 

Double J's kids don't play sports like they should.

FDJL

 

Waylon,

Some thoughts on your thoughts:

1. You and Mrs. Waylon are smart to plan to be on the same page. That was an unexpected issue for us because I might think the "boys are just being boys" while Mrs. Ace wants them grounded for a month. So that's something that needs work and communication.

2. I don't think you and your wife should be throwing dishes at each other, but it's not a bad thing to settle a disagreement in front of the kids so they see how it can be done.

3. "Hovering" is a tough thing. You can say you'd rather have your kids free to ride bikes and play sandlot ball, but who are they going to play with?

I feel the same about travel teams and such but it's much better to keep kids busy doing something.

Also, if your kids are decent athletes the more experience they get playing and practicing with the better kids the more successful they will be. There's no question about that. If that doesn't matter, fine.