- my iParenting
- quick clicks
- preteenagers today articles
- preteenagers today q&a
- teenagers today articles
- teenagers today q&a
- community & groups
- research baby names
- prepare a birth plan
- content channels
- ip channel rss feeds
- read birth stories
- read parenting stories
- recommended books
- e-newsletters
- safety recalls
- ip diaries
- ip store
- mom of the month
- dad of the month
- editor's letter
- letters to the editor
From Our Sponsors
- e-newsletters
- Sign up to receive our free weekly e-newsletters
- award-winning products
The iParenting Media Awards program helps parents find the best products for their families.
Youth Sports vs. Time Together
6 Tips for Finding Balance and Reclaiming Family
By Brooke de Lench
Raising active kids is difficult, perhaps more today than ever before. Parents feel pressure to help their kids succeed. They want to keep up with other parents in an increasingly winner-take-all society. Too often, parents just like you feel that if they don't do everything for their child, they are bad parents.
In fact, surveys show that today's active kids and their parents get too caught up in the crazy sports vortex. Today's parents spend 11 hours less a week with their teenagers than they did two decades ago. The average mother spends less than a half hour per day talking with her teens. Only six out of ten 15- and 16-year-olds regularly eat dinner with their parents. Family vacations are down by 2 percent. Sports have replaced church on Sunday for many families. Children are being benched for missing practice to be with their families on religious holidays.
Surveys also show that your children most likely lament the lack of parental attention. They want to spend more time with you, not less. They want more free time, not less.
I sincerely believe it's time to reclaim our family time. Here's 6 tips on how you can find a balance between your children's youth sports activities and your family life.