Your child's overflowing schedule of school, homework, sport's
practice, music lessons and chores can take a toll.
All individuals, adults and children, need some downtime, says
Kathryn Pieper, Ph.D., Clinical Psychologist with Children's Mercy
Hospitals and Clinics. It is important for parents to help kids be
selective in their activities.
Dr. Pieper offers these tips for parents with busy children:
A child should be involved in no more than two to three extra
curricular activities at a time. This can vary from child to child. One
child can thrive on being involved in many activities, while another
child can be overwhelmed.
Parents need to recognize that school is the primary
responsibility of the child. Too much pressure on extra curricular
activities can take a toll on school performance.
Parents need to make sure their child is eating well balanced
meals and getting enough sleep.
Parents need to listen to their child and make sure the
activity is in the best interest of the child. The activity should make
the child happy, not the parent.
Dr. Pieper also recommends that parents do not become too intense about
their child's participation in an activity. Parent's extreme
intensity can sometimes kill the enjoyment of the activity for that
child, she says. She recommends that parents comment on their child's
effort and good attitude and not focus on if the child won a certain
competition or if the child scored a certain number of points.
