Making wise investments

I am a soccer mom. I never planned on being the kind of parent who is constantly trotting her kids to the next activity, but that's exactly what I am. Duchess's week this fall typically includes soccer, piano, Mandarin, and martial arts. After soccer is over, she's going to do a low-key intramural basketball league based at her school. 

This isn't quite as terrible as it sounds, though it's still ridiculous. The piano lesson is so close that Duchess goes to and fro on her own, the martial arts studio is just half a mile away, and Mandarin takes place at school, right after school gets out, so no extra travel is necessary.* Soccer practices aren't much further away, and it builds Duchess's character when she finishes a soccer practice in the rain, gets on her wet bike, and bikes home in a downpour.

I listened to a podcast recently that detailed how extracurricular activities are unconnected to later success, and left the impression that you might as well not have your kid engaged in anything extra. I felt bad about my soccer-momming briefly, but then I remembered WHY Duchess participates in so many activities. It's because she likes them. We have tried to get her to quit both piano** and soccer*** in the last few months, and she begged to keep doing them. (The basketball, however, is something I'm making her do. I think a future six-footer should have at least a passing familiarity with basketball.) So her crazy over-subscription isn't due so much to helicoptering as it is to our indulging and spoiling her by giving her what she wants. Is that better? Probably not. 

She'll have to cut back eventually, as Skipper increasingly wants to have extracurriculars of her own, not because she likes trying new things,**** but because she wants Duchess to be forced to attend Skipper's things. (Sibling-revenge-motivated extracurriculars! I don't even know what economists would think about that.) Skipper's starting a parks and rec gymnastics class this weekend - we'll see how that goes. 

* Mandarin is also free, thanks to the Chinese government. Duchess doesn't seem to be brainwashed yet, but watch out if she runs for public office.

**Because she hasn't been taking practicing very seriously - she sits down willingly to do it, but is sloppy and lazy about it, and announces that she's done after five minutes. She is now required to work harder on it in order to keep her lessons.

*** Because soccer, more than anything, makes our schedule ridiculous. Plus, Cook and I both have uncomfortable emotional baggage from our childhood about soccer, class, and social status, and we'd be happy to see her leave it behind. Also, concussions! 

*** *You will be shocked to lean that she doesn't.