Schedules are getting busy again. Let's remember the quiet lessons of the pandemic

"Mom, can you pick me up early from camp today?"

That's the question I got this morning before I dropped off my son. He loves summer day camp with the YMCA, but even though I'm writing this on Wednesday morning, he's tired.

Honestly, so am I.

On top of summer day camp, my son wanted to play baseball. It's only a two-day-a-week commitment, so why not? He also takes swim lessons on Saturday mornings. I'd hardly consider this over scheduling activities for my son. I understand kids need downtime. It helps them process their world and neutralize stress. Real downtime doesn't include screens. It's time dedicated to quiet activity. This quiet space helps foster creativity and regulate emotions.

Most days when I pick him up from camp, he's had a solid eight hours of playtime. They swim, play on the playground and go on field trips. My son is usually ready for dinner and in need of a bath by the time I pick him up. On baseball days, he gets a snack while we walk across YMCA property to the baseball fields.

Is this too much in one day? Or are we just getting re-acclimated to an active life in a post-COVID-19 world? Kids (and grown-ups) spent a solid year with an abundance of downtime. Activities and socializing were stunted if not all-out canceled. Now, our schedule seems to be creeping back toward cram-packed.

It's not just my son's schedule either. Each week my husband and I have to sync schedules to figure out where we can find some space for us as a couple, time for family and just simple breathing space for some individual alone time. All of this is important.

We've all now gotten a taste of existing in the two extremes: the ongoing isolation of pandemic shutdown and the pre-COVID-19 full-speed-ahead career ambitions and overscheduled kids activities. Somewhere in there is a happy medium. Perhaps my son's request for a little less is our family's cue to take a deep breath and remember to hold space on the calendar to just ... be.

Last night at baseball practice another little boy shouted from the outfield, "Coach, is practice almost over yet?"

This morning when my son asked me to pick him up earlier from camp today, he followed that up with a request to work on the new puzzle. That sounded perfect. Dinner as a family at home, and then work on a puzzle. The kids are onto something here. Perhaps we need to remember the lessons that COVID-19 brought. We don't have to be busy all of the time. Quiet reflection is good for everyone's mental health and the time together strengthens our family's connection.