Why? If the kid wants to, why would you stop them? Unless the parents are forcing the kid, than it’s probably has personality and he’ll probably be like that forever. I would think that forcing a kid to NOT do things that they wanted to do would be as bad as forcing a kid to do things they didn’t want to do.

I am more likely to lament young peoples' laziness than their ambition. I had dinner last night with my partner and her daughter. The daughter is off for the summer. Her schedule is brutal. Running, dancing, riding horses, working at a horse stable, working/helping at dance programs, etc. Soon she will return to a pre-med program at a university. She got straight As in her first semester last fall. Thinking about joining the military after college. She will make a great doctor.

My thought exactly!

The reality is that life itself is hard work and competitive. Kids who embrace it are going to be far more prepared for the reality that awaits them.

Or the contrarian argument is this could be a contributing factor to why young people go through jobs like candy and can't seem to focus on a career.

I feel that is part of the underlying reasons so many companies are pushing the AGILE project management, especially in IT. They like to say it's for speed, agility, etc but with a focus on getting a product out as quickly as possible then refining, plus documenting the crap out of everything, I think it's because there is such high turn over, they can't plan large scale, multi year project anymore or the entire staff may turn over and newbies spend tons of time and money trying to figure out WTF is going on.

Huh? In what way is a kid engaging in years of competitive sports encouraging an atmosphere where employees don’t show loyalty to their employers? If anything sticking with the same team year over year through thick and thin is the epitome of loyalty. The same things that make a good sports teammate also make for a good work teammate.

Also, the sad reality of high turnover is that the places typically suck to work and don’t show any loyalty to their employees. But it’s far easier to blame generational differences than it is to look inward at the shortcomings of your work environment. I am in engineering management and we have mostly new grads and engineers with relatively little experience, we also have very little turnover because we focus a LOT on fostering a positive and rewarding work environment.

How old is she?

Totally agree. Joyful miracles they are! I love my grandkids. I should have had them first.

Playing one sport, or maybe two, sure. But when the list gets to 6, 7, or more like this thread is talking about, you really think ANY kid, or adult for that matter, can focus and give 100% to all of it??! No way, and the same thing is seen in a lot of the younger work force. Try this for a while, get bored, then try something else, get bored and try something else...rinse and repeat.

Good for you that you have low turn over at your place, the facts and reports out there say that is the exception, not the rule these days.

I finally got to spend a day with my young son after almost a year.

We made pancakes, worked on a motorcycle together, played music in the garage, it was great!

(oh, did I mention he was 24 and had been backpacking around the world?
But we made pancakes and put blueberries in them and everything! :-)

To say your post is a reach is an understatement. My oldest son is 14 and has played sports with the same group of boys since he was 4. Same teams, same kids, totally loyal, no quitting or lack of commitment.

There can be burnout with over-stimulation of anything, but if the kid is truly enjoying it that is the best thing experienced during childhood.
The schedule teaches him/her that anything is possible when you put your own effort into it.
Not a bad thing considering the alternatives.

Absolutely. What I've seen in my last almost 20 years in IT.
1. You have little experience and knowledge, you go someplace and work, and if you're smart and hungry, you learn a bunch. Then you are worth more, but you're not making more, so you leave to make more money and learn more. For many of my first years, I stayed 3-4 years and then either left because my job (and pay) weren't going anywhere despite me acquiring knowledge, skills and experience that made me much more valuable.
2. You are smart, knowledgeable and productive, but the company wants to milk you to the max while giving you the min that they can get away with. If you try to quit and you get offered 20-50% more money, then the company was screwing you and they knew it.

Seven

I'd agree it's all about parenting. My 7 year old grandson (Flatbutt III) loves spending time on the rope swing on my pond more than anything else. That's all about my son and DIL.

Seeing the smiles from my kids and watch them have fun is my job, but seeing my parents none stop smiles when the kids are around then for a day or two is also priceless. To me, that's pretty damn important too. I told my wife that from the minute we had kids that they get to spend time with grandparents. I grew up without grandparents, so I want my folks to have that experience.

it does get crazy.

sounds like you had a great time with your granddaughter. My little girl is 8 and spending time with her at this age is so much fun! She's up for anything. Help with dinner? 'Sure daddy! then can we try the bb gun?'. my lord kids are such a gift.

One other thing I would add to my previous comments about my own kids, while they are certainly busy we still have plenty of time for vacations, trips to the lake almost every weekend in the summer, visiting their grandparents, hanging out with friends, and the usual modern kid lazy time with stuff like video games or their devices. Despite being very involved I wouldn't call my kids overwhelmed, they still have plenty of downtime. They also aren't crying for surrender, at which point we would definitely be open for discussion. I'm still bummed that my oldest son quit competitive baseball several years ago, because I enjoyed watching him play and he had the potential to be pretty good. But he didn't love it, and ultimately sports are about having fun. The only requirement was that he finish the season, which he did.