What have we gotten ourselves into?
My 10 year old son is playing tackle football this year. They have practice 4 nights a week, plus a game every weekend. When he started asking to play, my husband and I said no to him again and again, for weeks and weeks, before we finally assented. We had so many reasons for him not to play: potential injuries, distraction from school, but mostly it was reluctance to disrupt our schedule, etc. However, we also figured the fact that he lobbied so hard meant that he was mature enough to try working towards a goal alongside his team. On the surface, I think team sports are a great idea. The kids get exercise and they learn how to work as a team towards a goal. They have fun playing with their friends and they learn how to play and/or improve at a sport they enjoy playing. I am all about finding ways to expose my children to fun and exercise, friends and teamwork. It's only when the adults get involved that we start screwing things up. Last night, we had our firs...