How busy is *TOO* busy?

Last summer, my teenage son complained that he was bored. While we had plans for several trips and activities, some got cancelled or postponed, leaving him free to swim, play on the computer, and hang out with his family and friends.

In contrast, everything that I planned this summer, and then some, came to fruition for him. Volunteering at Cub Scout camp, a one-week Boy Scout camp, a US History tour in the northeast, and a trip to visit grandma and grandpa in Alabama. High school summer band starts next week, which will basically fill the rest of his free time until school starts.

So, I laughed out loud the other night when he said, "Mom, I've been TOO busy this summer!"

"But, you've had at least a week in-between activities," I told him.

"My friends were gone most of the time I was here."

I realized he was right- Indeed, his friends' vacations and his activities did seem to overlap, and he's barely done anything with them all summer.

Do I feel bad about this? A little. 

Would I have changed anything? Not at all. (Don't feel to badly for him; he has been able to keep up with everyone on Facebook and Skype.)

I think that as kids get older, it's important to keep them busy. Not *so* busy that they don't have a second to breathe (or Skype with his friends, in our case), but busy enough that they don't have time to get into trouble.

Kids with free time are the ones that find the time to do dumb things. Keep kids busy with sports, scouts, hobbies, volunteering, and other extracurricular activities, and they are forced to focus more on school work during the academic year, with little time to do things they are not supposed to be doing.

So, while I wish my son's summer activities coincided a little better with his friends' so he could have had time with them, I am so grateful for the experiences he had this summer, and the memories he made.

Maybe next summer, I'll try to plan something that he and his friends can do together. If not, he'll just have to settle for another summer of memories, that he can share with his friends on Facebook.