Seriously, though, I do think these things can get out of hand. Last year, many of my then-kindergartener’s classmates had 3-4 activities each weekend, on top of after-school elective activities, on top of the kindergarten “school” day which is mostly art and music and gymnastics anyway. I know kids need and want to explore, and every family has its own schedule and preferred balance between structure and freedom and activity and rest. But I just want to put it out there – I know this is a very un-BOBW sentiment – that if optional extracurricular activities interfere with family time and sleep, it is an option to just not do them.

I echo Sarah re: therapy being key for boundary setting. I have to view this through a gender lens, but women seem to have a harder time setting boundaries. My husband says no to things and doesn’t feel any guilt or second guess himself. I’ve had to work on learning how to set boundaries in both my work and personal life but therapy was crucial is setting the boundary and trying to feel responsible for the other party’s reaction to setting boundaries. I find it does get easier with practice.