The Got Milk? campaign in the 90s resulted in greater exposure to the missing kids photos.
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Youth activities
- Thread starter Bob Dobbalina
- Start date
It's already been said but I also recommend signing them up for a variety of activities and let them gravitate to what they like.
My daughter is 25 now, but starting at about age 5-6, she did one season each of tee ball, soccer, dance, tai kwon do, and probably some other stuff that I am forgetting. She was one and done in all of them. When she was 8 or 9, my wife signed her up for softball. I figured it would be another one and doner. She enjoyed it the first season, but wasn't a standout by any means. There was already an established hierarchy of kids that were "in" and of course the psycho softball dad coaches that made sure their daughters got the spotlight and playing time, which was an eye opener. When signups rolled around next season, she wanted to play again and it just took off from there. She started pitching that year, had a knack for it, worked her a$$ off and ended up earning a full D1 scholarship as a college pitcher. It became the focus of our family life for about 15 years and the highs, lows, traveling, and shared memories have bonded our little family unit together forever. Whatever it ends up being, enjoy every minute - they grow up fast and it'll all be over before you know it!
My daughter is 25 now, but starting at about age 5-6, she did one season each of tee ball, soccer, dance, tai kwon do, and probably some other stuff that I am forgetting. She was one and done in all of them. When she was 8 or 9, my wife signed her up for softball. I figured it would be another one and doner. She enjoyed it the first season, but wasn't a standout by any means. There was already an established hierarchy of kids that were "in" and of course the psycho softball dad coaches that made sure their daughters got the spotlight and playing time, which was an eye opener. When signups rolled around next season, she wanted to play again and it just took off from there. She started pitching that year, had a knack for it, worked her a$$ off and ended up earning a full D1 scholarship as a college pitcher. It became the focus of our family life for about 15 years and the highs, lows, traveling, and shared memories have bonded our little family unit together forever. Whatever it ends up being, enjoy every minute - they grow up fast and it'll all be over before you know it!
My wife is a Latina and truly loved feeding the kids. We would always have a houseful and $500.00 Costco shops would disappear over a weekend. We loved (almost) every minute of it.
As others have noted, at 5.5 YO, expose her to a ton of things and she will gravitate towards what she likes and focus on that. Outside unstructured play is not overrated and should always be encouraged.
We all got cowboy boots for some reason we thought it would give us the power to jump off roofs.
We tested by jumping off a refrigerator in the garage, The we hung by the ceiling in the garage.
Then we jumped off the roof.
This was at 5.
The next year we set the fields on fire.
We tested by jumping off a refrigerator in the garage, The we hung by the ceiling in the garage.
Then we jumped off the roof.
This was at 5.
The next year we set the fields on fire.
Agree with the notion that kids are over scheduled. They are. But we also didn't have as many screens back in the day, and nowhere near as cool. Phones, switches, gaming consoles are powerful, powerful, drugs. Your response will be 'so dont' give them to your kid.' Kids response? Fine, can I go over to (insert literally any other kid) house? Where of course they'll play fortnite for 4 hours. It'll differ from parent to parent but the scheduling for some is a way to combat screentime.
And for anyone who came of age in the 80's, you remember exactly where you were the first time you played Mike Tyson's punchout on yours or your buddys nintendo. The perrtmance of our 7th grade basketball team dropped off a cliff in the months after that release. I don't play any video games with my kid but I get it, Madden '24 is insane.
Of course parents should be far more diligent in curbing screen time, but many of them have the same problem.
And for anyone who came of age in the 80's, you remember exactly where you were the first time you played Mike Tyson's punchout on yours or your buddys nintendo. The perrtmance of our 7th grade basketball team dropped off a cliff in the months after that release. I don't play any video games with my kid but I get it, Madden '24 is insane.
Of course parents should be far more diligent in curbing screen time, but many of them have the same problem.
It's true that they can still use their friends' consoles and screens but far less than if they have their own. If every parent resolved to get their kids and themselves off screens we wouldn't have this problem. We need to do better. It's not good for their eyes and minds.
It's true, but I also remember my friends' parents setting limits on this or banning it during weekdays. Often, mom was home to enforce. The kid with the console was usually the fattest and least athletic. This has gotten worse.
Yes.
Lol... I don't set any restrictions on my kids and their gaming (besides some heckling if they are on it a lot) and they are both phenomenal athletes.
Yep, you'd think that the gamers would be the least athletic and vice versa - hell, I used to think that - but it's not that way at all. In fact, there's not much distinction anymore between the gamers and everybody else anymore because they're all staring at their phones half the time anyway. The most athletic kids in my neighborhood are just as hooked on their electronics as all the other kids.... but when they got to high school, they had aged out of most of the leagues like I9/ flag football/ Pop Warner/ Babe Ruth/ whatever, so if they wanted to keep playing, they had to make it happen on their own in a much more competitive environment (HS sports) . And so they did. Tbh, my biggest fears basically never came true for my 15 y/o dude or his buddies.
I remember hanging from the rafters in the garage thinking this is a bad idea.
So many great memes have been made from this.
Ha - speaking of youth activities, I remember this one that made the rounds for awhile:
Unfortunately, probably a bad idea these days.