Soon after getting married, Mike and I began looking forward to the day when we would strap our lawn chairs to our back, load up juice boxes and orange slices and children in our hybrid SUV and spend our Saturday mornings enjoying the crisp fall air as we relaxed beside the soccer field.
We're still looking forward to that day, but probably I will spend my time keeping little ones from running onto the field, wiping noses brought on by the cool air, keeping sippie cups and cheerios in stock all while bouncing the newest one in my arms. Mike will probably knock people over to get the job as coach so that he will actually be able to watch and enjoy the game.
And we won't be cruising to the game in a hybrid SUV --I'm sure of that.
Besides this out of reach dream of ours, Mike and I have had a few discussions about how involved we want our children to be in extracurricular activities.
As much as we both LOVE sports and even find lasting value in them, we must be able to find a reasonable limit.
My previous life as a high school coach revealed the ridiculous expectations that have been put on our coaches. Win or go. Coaches who enjoy a paycheck must make sure their athletes are in top physical shape. Practice, practice, practice. Remember two-a-days? The week before school starts where football players and volleyball players are up at school twice a day to practice? Now try 2+ weeks of two a days. In some cases coaches hold three-a-days.
It's a bit much.
These days, to be good enough to be considered for a college team, hours and hours and HOURS must be spent preparing --years worth of hours.
Is a free ride to school worth it?
Do we teach our children to work hard and give their all to an activity that holds "some value" When there are many thing the Bible says, "has value for all things." (1 Tim. 4:8)
A friend shared this article on Facebook, I think it will be worth your time to read it.
Guarding Sabbath for our Children
In case the link doesn't work, copy and paste this:
http://jenwilkin.blogspot.com/2010/10/guarding-sabbath-for-our-children.html
My Reading List
8 years ago
4 comments:
Thanks for sharing the article. Steve and I were JUST discussing this subject for the first time, recently.
That was great...thanks so much for sharing.
i love that post. kyle and i were just talking about this too. what our "limit" would be for our kids, because i fear it's coming faster than we know it!
I remember us talking about this in the car one day... great post!
-Laura
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