You know those hilarious Allstate ads poking fun at 40-somethings becoming their parents? It’s funny because it’s true, at least on my end. Growing up, a household rule for my siblings and me was that we had to do one sport per season during the school year — or at least an extracurricular activity — and finish it out, even if we didn’t love it. I think it was a good way to give us kids the opportunity to try a range of sports and clubs but also teach a bit of perseverance.
Fast-forward to 2026, and this rule has been implemented with the next generation. All three of our kids have to do something each new school semester. It’s led to a wide variety of undertakings, from drama club productions of Peter Pan to Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps, lacrosse, softball, diamond art club and Dungeons and Dragons.
They don’t all stick, but I like that our tiny humans are giving things a shot. Even when that includes broiling on the sidelines of a softball game … for four hours … while the pitcher channels Charlie Sheen in Major League, the outfielders pick flowers, and no one hits ANYTHING.
That said, something I always ask other parents is whether they find today’s level of youth sport and activity programming somewhat overwhelming. I can’t be sure, but I don’t believe there were quite so many extracurricular opportunities, school, and club sports 30-odd years ago.
I am regularly bombarded with requests from the children (who are, dang, actually all teenagers now), to go out for something new. Early on, I had the brutally exhausting course of signing up a child for more than one sport or club in the same season, so I now try to stand fast in my doctrine of Only One Thing At A Time. But it doesn’t always work out that way.
Take swimming, for example. Before my eldest hit high school, all three kids were on a local club swim team, as this is not a middle school sport in our town. It’s a great team, folks are nice, and my wife and I have even started helping out with coaching. But then my daughter started her freshman year and joined the high school swim team.
Now, she practices with both groups and, of course, there are swim meet obligations from both teams. What that means is that this weekend, for example, there is a school meet on Saturday that we’ll be volunteering at and a club meet on Sunday that we’ll be coaching at.
And because we’re so smart, winter weekends also include a trip to the slopes. Skiing is not only fun but super expensive, so once you’ve invested the resources into getting your family up and running, you really want to make the most of it. The best part? There is a high school ski team that my son is angling for.
Getting your kids involved with sports and extracurriculars is, in my highly unscientific opinion, a great idea. But I have to tell you, sometimes it feels like my head is going to spin right off my shoulders.
