When my older children were small, I avoided sending them to hugim (extracurricular activities). Part of it was expense, and part was that I did not want to have to wake up the baby or toddler when it was time to do dropoff or pickup. They weren't completely deprived—I often arranged something at home or close enough for them to get there on their own. I've been more "generous" with my younger two. My 10-year-old takes music lessons, which requires chauffeuring until he gets big enough to shlep his instrument himself. He rides the bus to a second class. I am thinking that this is a lot, especially since he ends school at 2:30 three days a week. My 7-year-old is in two classes that each … [Read more...]