http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7184763/

I knew that there were some families like this, but I had no idea it was considered the norm these days. Reading about these people's lives was horrifying for me. I cannot imagine a world where my children's lives are that scheduled, a world where my family interacts so little with each other, a world without free time for imagination, play, long walks and conversation. There are times when I feel my kids are doing too much. For us, that means art once a week, play group twice a month, science club once a week, homeschool gym once a week (fall and spring), girl scouts once or twice a month (depending on girl). We eat dinner as a family every night, even when it means eating at 4:50 to make a 5:30 girl scout meeting. It's maybe once a month that we don't eat together. The kids have hours outside every day in spring, summer and fall, time to just be kids, to play hopscotch, ride bike, play superheros and run back and forth with the neighbors' kids. I didn't think my reality was that different. The two next door neighbors are also at home moms. The kids run around together, and we all keep eye out. It's not unusual for my kids to play next door for a few hours, then her kids come over here or go on a walk with us. They all have time to just be.

We were at the library the other night, wasting an hour while Abigail was at her Brownies meeting. I was talking with the children's librarian about various things. She's probably in her 50's, a really neat woman and fun to talk with. I told her some story about Vincent and the goofy things he does; she asked me to keep on telling her these stories because they give her hope. She said that she's noticed kids don't have as much imagination these days, that they play differently and interact with the world differently than they did in years past. If the lives of the families portrayed in this article are even remotely like the norm, then it's no wonder children are out of touch with play, imagination and family interaction. I hope this article was sensationalist, that the children studied in LA are not the norm for the US. I hope that most of the kids out there have large sections of each day to just be kids, without orchestrated activities, TV, video games or electronic media.