Sometimes Katherine likes to look like this.

Sometimes she likes to look like this.

And other times she likes to look like this.

This all seems like a good thing. Variety is, after all, the spice of life.

But for some reason, our society has introduced something totally evil.

Year round sports.

If Katherine plays softball this spring she will be balancing softball, soccer and dance. Dance makes sense to me. Dance has no season. In my world soccer is a fall sport. In our town though, soccer is a year round sport. This spring, for Katherine at age six, soccer is optional but the pressure is there. The feeling becomes that if other girls play in the spring, they will be ‘ahead’ come fall. How can I even be thinking these things? Worrying that other girls will be ahead at the age of six?

Something has gone terribly wrong when a six year old, in order to enjoy a variety of activities, is forced to also be over scheduled. There is a desperate need for balance. Let’s hope that I can find it…