Parenting Life-Hacks: Avoiding The "After-School Uber Service" Trap

dr. Kristijan Musek Lešnik
Oct 20, 2025
1 min read

It starts with one after-school activity — soccer, maybe. Then comes piano, karate, tutoring, coding, choir. Suddenly your seven-year-old has a calendar more crowded than your own, and you’re sprinting from one parking lot to the next.

“Free time builds creativity, traffic builds resentment ... and childhood busyness isn’t enrichment.”

AVOIDING THE TRAP

Luckily, there are ways to support curiosity in children (and their development) without living in your car:

Limit the Menu. One or two activities per season is plenty. Childhood doesn’t need a sampler platter of skills.
Protect Free Time. Downtime isn’t wasted. It’s where kids invent games, climb trees, and build blanket forts.
Follow the Spark. If karate lights them up but piano makes them sulk, that’s your clue. Follow joy, not résumés.
Carpool Like a Pro. Team up with other parents. One drive beats five. Bonus: solidarity in suffering.
Resist the Résumé Illusion. Harvard won’t care your child played clarinet at 8. They’ll care about curiosity and resilience.
Reclaim Family Dinners. Even scrambled eggs at 8:30 counts. Shared meals are glue.
Build in Off-Seasons. Athletes rest. Kids should too. Schedule weeks with zero commitments.
Redefine Success. It’s not about belts or recitals. Success is raising a kid who feels loved, balanced, and happy.