It has begun

My blog, of course. This is my first post.

But what I really mean by "it" is the new year. I know it's not really New Year's Eve or anything. Not even Chinese New Year. Not R. But the school year is upon us. And since my oldest is heading off to kindergarten next week, (excuse me I need to get a tissue to wipe away my tears) it feels like the start of a new year.

I looked at the calendar today and saw soccer practice, dance registration, kindergarten visitation, and I knew. Summer is over. We'll try to get a little more out of it this week and we may even have some warm weather in September, but it's over. I can't believe how quickly it went by.

C announced that she's excited for school and she can't wait for dance and gymnastics and swimming. And I said "Whoa!" I know that some kids have after school activities every night of the week. But it's just too much. They need time to play and read and be with their families. We probably will sign her up for dance again this year. Her two younger sisters want to dance this year too. There's a cute preschool dance program that's 30 minutes once a week. But it's on a different night than C's class, so that will already be two nights with rushed meals. I think that's enough.

I find it really challenging to balance family time with activities outside the home. When I was young I didn't participate in any after school activities until I was in 7th grade. I really wish that I would have had the chance to pick an outside activity. So when C asked for dance the first time, I was all for it. But then she wanted swim lessons, gymnastics, soccer. I really want to encourage physical activities because of the health benefits and the opportunity to improve social skills. And it's hard to choose one activity when she's so young and hasn't had the chance to figure out what she's most interested in.

Soccer is nice because it's only a few weeks long. But dance is all year, as is gymnastics. I wish we lived near a facility that offered six or eight week classes. But as it is, we'll have to narrow it down. And soon. Because It Has Begun.