It’s very common to hear parents talk about rashing their child from one club sport, to the next—or to an academic debate, school club or other roster of activities. For some children, adding extra-curricular activities may be due to the pressure of building a resume to get into a good college, while others feel peer pressure to hang out with a group of friends. Some parents might feel their child is “missing out” if he isn’t constantly occupied. There are various reasons, but it all adds up to overload.

How Can Parents Tell if Their Child is Too Busy?

Parents should look for signs of being over-loaded, such as:

• Feeling tired, exhausted or depressed
• Not enjoying the activity they once loved
• Lower grades in school
• Complaining of headaches or body aches, which may be due to stress or lack of sleep
• Having stomach pain, which may be due to missed meals or stress

An active schedule can wear on a child’s social and family life. When a child is too busy to play with friends, his friendships my suffer—as does the family structure if one parent is busy running one child to baseball practice while the other parent is at a dance recital. Not to mention, it can be extremely tiresome for everyone involved.

If you feel your child is too busy, here are some tips to help you get back on track:

• Schedule activities in moderation. Start slow and add an additional activity when you feel your child is ready to multi-task.
• Make sure the activity is developmentally appropriate for the age of your child.
• Keep a family calendar to stay organized. Place the calendar in a place where everyone can see it and can add their activities.
• Mark off a day on the calendar as a family day. Do not schedule any individual activities on that day and do something together as a family.
• Parents may need to say “No”. If adding one more activity is going to overload your child, you can talk to her about dropping an activity to add the new one.

Take a moment and carefully examine your child’s schedule. If you feel there are too many activities scheduled, talk with your child and together decide where you can cut back. Keeping a structured active schedule can play a role in the health and well-being of your child.