Delighted to be published in Dubai – After school activity: How much is too much?

I was recently interviewed for Gulf News ‘Friday Magazine’ about ‘After school activity: How much is too much?’

Here are my thoughts.

How do you juggle and get that balance between tooo many activities and not enough?

While  the odd class here and there is stimulating and is a chance to make new friends or discover a dormant talent, when does it all become too much? When is being busy too busy?

According to UK parenting expert Sue Atkins, it’s all about balance. Sue says kids play outside 50 per cent less than they used to in previous generations, which has led to rising obesity and attention-deficit problems.

‘It’s definitely a good idea to encourage your child to take up an after-school activity that has them running around and stimulating their minds,’ she says, ‘especially since research shows that children who are active perform better academically.’

But she, too, is aware that we can overdo our children’s organised fun to such an extent that we start to rob them of the very things – time, freedom and space – that make childhood so special, memorable and carefree.

‘We live in a busy, frenetic world. ?We’re always rushing from one thing to another, and we urge our children to do the same. We must remember we’re human beings, not human doings!’ says Sue, author of Parenting Made Easy, How to Raise Happy Children ( Penguin) ‘Downtime is important ?for all of us.’

Read the full article here