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Showing posts from July, 2013

Extracurricular activities-Do you push or do you let them quit? --Learning from experience

One of the most difficult things I have had to decide as a parent is what role extracurricular activities will play in my kids' lives.   I am a pretty laid back hands off parent and let them make a lot of their own decisions.  However I have always loved music and dance so when the opportunity to sign my oldest up for Kindermusik at 18 months I jumped at the chance.  We loved it, it was a mommy & me activity so I loved spending the one on one time with her singing, dancing, reciting poems and I believe Kindermusik is a highly educational thirty minutes (it helps with reading and math connections as well as beginning a music foundation).  Then soccer came onto the scene.  I learned a lot about my oldest four year old in soccer.  I learned that she was not motivated intrinsically.  She was pretty lazy unmotivated on the field so we did the unthinkable.  We bribed her with a Webkinz to score a goal (I'm pretty against bribing but I do NOT regret this choice.  We were able to