Are you wondering if your kids are over scheduled or not ? You may be running from  soccer practice, violin  practice and ballet lessons.

The question is how is the kid doing.  If the kid is having anxiety attack, cant  sleeping at night or is staying up late. This is the time to stop and think if you are doing too much, or if something has changed  about the family.

Some  parents don’t want to see their  kids sit and do nothing. However you have to know that sitting  is constructive . The American Academy of Pediatrics have a policy statement on the importance of play. When kids are playing,  they are building the creative and interactive part of the brain. They solve problems and take on roles during pretend play and these are all important developmental skills . So you  do want to see the kids have some down time . They should however not  spend that whole time in front   of a screen. They can sit down  playing with blocks, reading books or playing with siblings.

If your child doesnt want to do silly things with you,  is  irritable or shows other signs of depression, you have to ask them how well they slept at night. You can also ask if there is anything going on in their lives. They may be getting bullied and not telling you. It could also mean that they are doing too many activities and have little time to rest.

How to decide what is more important

The first thing is to ask your kids where the fun is or where their talent is and drop those that they are not interested in  or not important. You have to think about where the activity  is going to take them in life . As parents you  have to take control of the situation and decide what comes first so that they can get plenty of time to rest.