Ah, the sweet signs of spring: robins a-chirping, cherry trees a-popping, and lawn mowers a-buzzing across newly awakened lawns. Life feels fresh and alive; time to throw off ol’ man winter’s blanket and embrace the sun! Well, hold on a moment. It’s been mighty wet for a mighty long time, and I’m sure all of us are starting to wonder if muddy gardens and soggy barbecues will follow us until summer. One of the things I truly appreciate about those of us who call the Northwest home is our ability to keep to daily schedules despite weeks and weeks of drizzle and drip. And the kids, well, the kids grow up hardened to the rain. Walking to school, playing soccer, riding bikes — Northwest tykes thumb their wet noses at precipitation!
Parents should take note, though. Even in crummy weather little ones can experience activity overload, and that’s reason enough to heed the advice given in “Over-Scheduled Andrew.” Andrew happens to be one busy-bee of a chickadee (a Northwest bird — how appropriate!). It all starts when he joins the drama club. He’s a real “ham,” so putting on costumes and performing on stage is a perfect fit for our budding thespian. Then the real trouble starts. A teacher suggests that he join the debate club to improve his public speaking skills; he wins so many debates his froggy friend, Calvin, encourages him to participate in the chess club (because he’s so smart); next are ballet and karate classes to help with his coordination (important for the dance routines he performs in drama club); and — whew! — the next thing he knows, Andrew is active in the French film club and taking bagpipe lessons (on his grandmother’s insistence, of course).
It soon becomes apparent that Andrew is OVER-SCHEDULED. Parents and little ones will recognize the signs when they see Andrew falling asleep during school projects and mixing up his activities by “danc(ing) his way through debate club” and “argu(ing) his way through karate.” But an even more disturbing trend emerges. He no longer has time to play with his good friend, Edie, except for a short 15 minutes on Friday afternoons (where, predictably, he usually falls asleep).
What’s an overbooked chickadee to do? Listen to his deer friend, Edie (really, I think she’s a deer), and wing his way to a more realistic schedule. His crush of pursuits winds down to a few, well-chosen extracurricular activities, and if you and your own crazy-busy chickadees want to find out what he ultimately chooses for fun, pull out your library card and read Ashley Spires’ funny and wise “Over-Scheduled Andrew.” Here’s a hint: playing with friends is more important than playing the bagpipes (sorry, grandma), but a little drama or film-watching fits in nicely with Andrew’s new “no-schedule” schedule.
Jan Johnston is the collection development coordinator for the Fort Vancouver Regional Library District. Email her at readingforfun@fvrl.org.
