My girls have done soccer, ballet, dance, karate, gymnastics, cheer leading, and several other activities and we always encounter the hard core activity parents. The ones who are writing their child's ticket to stardom and fortune....ug! :bigfrown
My oldest daughter just decided to drop gymnastics after 2 years because she says she's learned all she wanted, and the next step would be to join the gymnastics team, which we will not do.
what get's me are these parents who think they are doing a smart thing to get their child into college....
: Gymnastics is especially stupid as a college plan.
These girls will spend 8 hours a week minimum to train. Many train 20 hours a week. Back and forth to the gym, fees for that. Fees for the team clothing and the team needs to have the same bags. Cost of travel, hotel and the injury's it's about $10,000 a year min and upwards of $20K.
You could save that money in an annuity and send your kid to college. They could spend time studying. That's what we do.
If my child shows an exceptional talent and really wants to pursue it that's different, but we have them focus on academics. My girls are straight A students on the principle's list each year, and that, I tell them, will build their future to function working in the world.
Neither one of my girls are exceptionally athletic
...one does not want to break a nail and the other thinks she wants to play tennis because she just loves the outfits.
My oldest will be entering 6th grade next year. She is part of a gifted academia program and she needs to decide what extra curricular activities she will pursue. We are steering her towards her talents. singing (Choir) and anything to do with mathematics. She is exceptionally bright with numbers, and she tutors other children at the school before class. She is one of only three students who work in the math tutoring program at school. My wife and I joke that by high school she is going to be the prettiest nerd in class.
The bible says in Proverbs 22:6; 6 Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.....some say "train up" same thing. While this indicates instilling an understanding of God and a healthy fear of the Lord, it also means that we should examine our children for their talents; their God given abilities and gifts. We are to foster that.
If I have a garden, and I'm growing tomatoes, I'm not going to try and make a watermelon out of a tomato.
rather I'm going to foster the growth of the tomato to be the best tomato.
When it comes to extra curricular activities for our children, I think it's best to allow them to try things, see where they fall and build them up where they are, not where we want them to be. These children we have been blessed to care for are not ours, and we need to know that. They are God's creations entrusted to us. How awesome is that? God blesses two people; a man and a woman in this way. Wrapped in Love and bound in marriage with children on loan from God in their care, and made by God from those two people.
The world does not see this. If it did, it would treat marriage and sex and children very differently. But, we are to be mindful of the special nature of what is true as we raise these gifts, and train them up in the way they should go, not in the way the world says or thinks.
Sports are fine, and some kids are very talented in this way, but the world places a high emphasis on things like athletics and I think many parents feel pressured into going along with it, or they want to instill some parental pride in what the world says. As Christian parents we don't need to feel that pressure.
My children attend public school. We arm them to be agents for Christ in the world and not of the world. I tell them they don't have to compete. There is no competition. Everyone has been given certain gifts and talents that they are to use for the glory of God, not for their own glory or some trophy.
My daughter has medals, certificates and robins she been awarded for academics and scores on state exams. She does not display them because she is embarrassed. She does not wear her glasses for the same reason. She already knows that the world does not value smart people, but I tell her; look anyone who plays a sport these days get's a trophy and often the parents buy them, but only a hand full of kids earn awards for math and perfect scores. No one buys that......so you see not all is perfect. I have lots of work to do despite that smiling photo of the smart girl I am so very proud of, because just beneath that is a girl not sure if the world will be so accepting of her as her dad is.
God's children need not be ashamed of their talents, whatever it is, and we are in place to train, guide and foster them in the way they should go.
True story; I grew up with a kid down the street who was seen as an idiot. He attended our church. Could not play ball and barely passed school. Every summer he mowed lawns because he did not have very many friends to hang out with, but he did have some great parents.
His father bought him some lawn mowing equipment and that's what he did every summer, that's what he did after high school and today he owns one of the largest landscaping companies in Texas. He was trained up by Christian parents, in the way he should go. That's all the extra curricular activity any of us need to focus on when it comes to our children, and that's how important it is.
