Overscheduled?

We are definitely in activity overload right now!  Katie was moved up another level in gymnastics and after talking to a former gymnast/friend that was watching the girls in class yesterday - she said to be prepared for them to ask Katie to join the pre-team which means practice two nights a week at minimum.  We are going to see how basketball, and then soccer goes to see which she likes better.  She is so competitive though (I wonder where she gets that), that I bet this achievement level thing will motivate her to want to stick with gymnastics even if it isn't her favorite.  She was as proud as a peacock yesterday when the coaches told me in front of the whole class that she needed to move up. She likes gymnastics, but she is so active and physical that I really think a sport with more constant movement and activity will be better for her. It will be her call, though, and she really did have fun at her basketball clinic last week (even if she did do a few round-offs before practicing lay-ups), and games are sure to be even more exciting for her (she really liked the competition of soccer games).  

In the meantime, it seems like everything is happening NOW and I just can't get my little brain around it all.  Work is so busy for me that I feel like I am going in a million directions.  Basketball season starts for both of them next week, sign ups are happening for soccer and baseball and Tyler has chosen baseball, but really wants to play soccer too, which means Katie thinks she should be allowed to play softball AND soccer (we are debating since they do overlap and will likely be a scheduling nightmare and the Spring is when Lance and I actually get to play our sports too).  Summer camp sign ups are also happening in December and we haven't decided if we are going to let them do an overnight camp this year, if we are going to do day camp like last year, if we are going to try to do sports camps instead, etc.  I hate having to decide now, but if we don't - we don't get in!

It also looks like I am going to be a basketball coach for a team of six and seven year old girls.  It has been so long since I have done much of anything with a basketball that I am kind of nervous, but they needed a coach for Katie's team and our neighbor is the league coordinator and I couldn't say no.  Lance is going to help, but he will primarily be watching Tyler during Katie's (our) games and getting Tyler to his games and practices if they conflict.  I ended up running some of Tyler's soccer practices last year and it wasn't too bad, but I don't like being responsible for teaching fundamentals!  Since none of the other parents on the team stepped up when they put out a call for help, though, I don't think they get to complain too much!  The kids went to a basketball clinic last weekend, and are going to another this weekend and I will for sure be watching the drills they do more closely this week!  I am sure all will be fine, but Katie actually listening to me as her coach may be another story - ha!  

I know that it isn't imperative that they do all of these activities, especially when we have all we can handle with school work for the two of them each week, but Lance and I both really loved sports and it seems like they do too, and I think it is good for them to be active and involved in something other than homework and television watching!   I recognize, though, that the most daunting thing of it all, besides trying to schedule and get to everything, is the staggering expense.  If all of these things were more affordable the decision would be easy - we would absolutely find a way to get them to activities they enjoy and send them to camps that will teach life and outdoor skills that they can't get anywhere else.  But, if Katie actually does want to really concentrate on gymnastics we will be looking at astronomical costs that I just don't know are feasible, compounded by life stuff that seems to crop up at the worst times.  My broken seatbelt (that is in the back seat and used by the kids so has to be fixed ASAP) and windshield in my car, rotting back door on the house that had to be fixed, a growth and cold spurt that meant all new clothes and shoes for both kiddos, etc., etc.,  makes it hard to commit to extracurricular activities and especially ridiculously expensive summer camps so far in advance.

Maybe I am just chafing at the notion that all of these organizations won't allow me to procrastinate, though  :).  Just like I had good intentions to buy Christmas presents well in advance to defray December expenses (and now have exactly 0 gifts), and intended to buy winter school clothes in a size up when they were on sale and never did it, I am sure that if they didn't have deadlines so far in advance I would be even more frantic and stressed when I actually got around to planning out the rest of the school year and summer.  I must admit that it will be kind of a relief to know in January what the Spring and Summer holds, for the most part, in terms of activities and childcare for the kids.   It will likely give extra motivation to both of us at work, too - knowing that our commissions and paychecks are already committed  :)!