Tuesday, February 7, 2017

Too much is too much

It's Friday at 7:30 a.m.---15 minutes before the bus arrives.
Julie is feverishly writing, and obviously stressing. I look over her shoulder and she's writing a letter to Trump begging him not to build "the wall."

I don't get much response when I ask her what the heck she's doing, but after some hounding she confesses that she's working on a school project due Monday. A major Social Studies project worth a large portion of her grade. And she hasn't started.

Say what?
This was the first I had heard of said project, and after looking over the assignment, her scribbled letter to Trump didn't come close to meeting the project's requirements.

To say I was pissed, was an understatement. We've backed off a little this year, and let her take responsibility for her assignments, and up until this point, there haven't really been issues. Almost perfect grades, and never a missed homework assignment.

I was dumbfounded at how she could put off on starting a project. How could this happen?
After some discussion, Scott and I realized the poor girl has too much going on. She's trying to earn her black belt in Tae Kwon Do, and takes classes three times a week. She's rehearsing for two plays, in which she has major roles. (Annie in "Annie" and Sebastian in "Little Mermaid"). She's in chorus and Honor's Chorus, takes theatre classes and on Monday mornings she helps take care of the school's animals with the Zoo Crew.

It's just too much.

Though we aren't taking her out of any activities yet, we told her how we felt and that she can ask for help whenever she needs it. And, also, that if grades start to slide, something has to go.  She wasn't happy about that.

She loves every one of these activities, and excels at them all, but her plate is full. Every day after school, and even on Saturdays she has a commitment. So much so that she's had to step back from some things because they would conflict---like basketball and Girl Scouts.

"But I love being busy. I love being in a lot of things," Julie blurted out, when we told her what we were thinking.

But school comes first, we told her.

Needless to say, I think we've learned our lesson. While it's so fun to see Julie enjoying her activities, there's a point when it might be too much. I'm thinking next year, especially since she will be in middle school, some tough choices might have to be made when we limit the number of extra activities.





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