Making Hard Choices

Two weekends ago was Sam's tournament for basketball.  He has had a great year and really enjoyed playing, and we were excited about watching his team play.  They won their first game against a team that they had lost to earlier in the season, so they were pumped!  The next day they played and won again - leading them to the championship game.  The only problem was that it was going to be held on Sunday.  As members of the church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints, we believe in keeping the Sabbath day holy - that means no sports, no swimming, no shopping, etc. We go to church, visit family, and enjoy the day together as a family.  Sam loves playing ball, and he was so excited that his team had made it all the way to the championship. But he decided to not play.  It was a hard choice to make and we are incredibly blessed to have such a valiant boy.  He felt good about his decision, and I'm sure it will be easier in the future to make hard choices! 

In other hard choices category:  We've had to start making decisions regarding how many activities we put our kids in at one time.  The boys really love participating in team athletics, and we encourage this as well, since we think it teaches great things about hard work, discipline, etc. But we don't want to overload the boys or our family (since let's be honest - the ENTIRE family goes to practice, games, fundraisers, etc) We want the kids to be well rounded with piano lessons, swimming lessons, accelerated classes at school and the like - but where do you draw the line?  My expectations for my children are to do their best at everything they do. I'm not envisioning mini-Sheldon's running around or sports prodigies, but I want to give them opportunities to achieve and be involved.  Poor Sam is the guinea pig and has had to make hard decisions like whether to do soccer or baseball or a traveling BKB team this spring.  Baseball won out (YAY - that is silent cheering from me). But now we have to make decisions about a gifted program that would put him into a different school next year, all in the midst of juggling piano and scouts.  And its only 1 of the 4!!!  YIKES!