why don't you do something?!?!?!?!

Trying to figure out what activities to involve your kids in when they get to the appropriate age is extremely frustrating in my experience. I spent nights worrying about whether to enroll in soccer or baseball, piano or voice, drama or art..........................the list goes on. Now in retrospect, I wish I would have spent more time just enjoying them at home and less time worrying about where to send them away.
Music skills have always been important to me, and therefore piano was a given. Sports....................well, I was never a jock, and my husbands schedule never allowed for him to drive kids all over town after school and evenings, so after a few attempts at soccer, gymnastics and drama, I decided the driving was too stressful, and began karate, where I could drop the kids off and pick them up an hour later. This worked for a few years, but when more of them joined (we started when our oldest was about 8 and youngest wasn't even born), the kids needed to be there at different times, and our dinner schedule became completely chaotic. I know most of you are probably saying"dinner schedule? what's that?", but having dinner together has always been a priority for me, and although when my oldest son turns 16 and becomes mobile this will probably no longer occur on a regular basis, right now I am doing everything in my power to make it happen. Therefore, karate went, and life became simple. Okay...................simple is deffinately an eggageration in a house with 4 boys, 2 dogs and 5 puppies, but simpler nevertheless.
It seems to me that society has placed too much emphasis on exra-curricular activities, and not enough emphasis on family time. If you have not yet given in to this overwhelming amount of pressure to involve your kids in extra-curricular activities, please consider what you may be giving up by doing so. Exercise is important, sporting skills are valuable, but more valuable than family time? I don't think so!