HOW TO DEMYSTIFY YOUR KIDS’ JAMPACKED SCHEDULES
Every parent knows that a poorly organized tangle of kids’activities is a recipe for a migraine. As school starts up again, so does sports season, and your kids’ extracurricular ambitions pile up like the falling autumn leaves. Don’t let yourself get burned out. Here are some tips to stay sane in the midst of the extracurricular whirlwind. Consolidate all your scheduling, jotting, and activity-tracking into one system. Let’s get one thing straight: You can’t afford to be scrawling“Abby piano lesson rescheduled 9/21”on the first scrap of paper you come across. That doesn’t mean you have to be hyper-organized, but it does mean that you need to keep your entire calendar in one place, whether that place is Google Calendar, a fridge whiteboard, or the old-fashioned standby: a calendar with a lighthouse on every page. One particularly attractive option is the Cozi app (cozi.com), which not only consolidates an entire family’s calendars, but allows you to include to-do lists, shopping lists, recipes, chore checklists, andmore. Whichever system you choose, keep it updated. Its word is law. Formparent alliances. Those soccer practices Jacob’s going to? There are other teammates there, and they have parents shuttling them around, just like you are. Set up carpools—Noah’s momdrives thembothTuesday while you’ve got Thursdays — tomanage scheduling conflicts between your kids and drastically reduce the time you spend as a chauffeur. To simplify the process andmake sure everyone’s on the same page, check out the Carpool-Kids app at carpool-kids.com. It’ll let you directly Extracurricular Overload
invite other parents and set up weekly or one-shot carpool schedules.
Maintain balance. You almost certainly will need to say no to additional extracurricular activities every now and then. Sure, simultaneous baseball, football, and soccer seasons might seemhealthy and fun for your kid, but you need to consider your own needs, as well. Many parents give their children free rein over what to choose, but limit activities to one or two per season. Johnny wants to do
underwater basket weaving? Strange choice, but sure— though he’ll have to abandon either fencing or ice hockey. Make sure you weigh each child’s needs equally, and keep the rules the same for each of them.
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“I came to Stretch for a frozen right shoulder due to a fall. I could not use my right arm very much at all, and this interfered withmy job and activities withmy family. Since I’ve been doing therapy, I amnow able to perform a lot of the activities that I was doing before my fall. I am very pleased with the results I’ve gotten frommy therapy at Stretch. The staff is awesome, and they really care about their patients. I would definitely recommend Stretch to everyone, and I have.” –Aimee Lunsford
“I had no idea how quickly I could recover from a torn rotator cuff. I recommend anyone who is suffering pain to start their search for relief at Stretch. Before PT, I could not even dress myself, hold a coffee cup, or hold a phone tomy ear. Now, I have full range of mobility, ride my bike, and sleep without pain. I feel I am a total success!” –Elaine Yannerella
“Stretch helpedme stabilize my shoulder. I learned how to stretchmy shoulder. My experience was good, withmore one-on-one than other PT places. Now, I can go to the batting cages, throw, and row.” –Ally Spaulding
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