Our Overscheduled Lives/Our Childrens' Overscheduled Lives

We worry about how many projects we have going and how we are going to keep up. We worry about our kids and how many activities they have both in school and after school. For the kids there's basketball on Monday, gymnastics on Tuesday, piano on Wednesday, three major tests on Wednesday, a quiz on Monday, a project due on Tuesday.... Sound familiar? Is there ever time for all of us-parents and kids-to relax and think? Probably not, for we are running from activity to activity and project to project, aren't we? MIT's Dan Ariely in his book Predictably Irrational tells us that we simply have difficulty giving up our options. Maybe it's like being hesitant to get rid of clothing we think we might possibly someday, some time wear again? Maybe it's like over-scheduling our kids so that they'll be able to get scholarships for sports or dance or playing a musical instrument? Maybe we just don't know how to let go? We want to keep all our options open. To check into this problem, Ariety had students at MIT play a game in which they could get higher scores if they gave up options. The students didn't want to give them up even for better scores. You and your family can try the game to see if you can fight the urge to keep all your options open. What's the answer to our over-scheduled lives? Perhaps Professor Ariety's book can help.