Disclosure: I received a copy of the book in exchange for this book review. The words and opinions are my own.

When I was a child, I didn’t have many pets. But I did have a gerbil. Gerbils like to run on a wheel that’s placed in their cage. They run on the wheel over and over, yet never get anywhere.

The author of the book, It’s Your Kid Not a Gerbil, points out that many families in America live like gerbils on a wheel. We run from one activity to the next, always feeling tired and stressed.

After I had my first child, I took him to every activity our community offered: story time at the library, gymnastics, mommy and me music, play group, etc. My baby was definitely on the activity wheel from day one! Over the past year or two, we’ve slowed down significantly. As they’ve gotten older, we’ve realized that they need down time at home as a family. It’s one thing to have a little one go to one outing a day, it’s another when they are in school all day and then have an activity each night.

The author, Kevin Leman, believes we need to get off the activity wheel and spend time with our kids. “Activities are like ice cream. They’re great for an occassional treat, but they don’t make for a healthy diet.” Kids need a close relationship with their family, much more than they need involvement in any activity. In the end, it’s not important how good they are in sports or how many clubs they were a member of, but rather who they are inside. It’s our job as parents to invest time in our children to help them grow in their character.

One activity per semester is all Dr. Leman suggests for each child. And for larger families, the children may need to take turns doing activities throughout the year. This book really gets at the heart of our American culture and what’s really important when it comes to families, activities, and the time we invest in our children. He cautions parents to curb their own tendency to work too much or get themselves busy with too many of their own activities.

This book hit home for us. We’ve been debating whether to get involved in team sports and how much involvement we want to have. Some sports require 2-3 practices a week and games on the weekends. We just don’t want that for our family. We’ve wondered if we were doing the right thing by limiting our children’s activities. Reading this book helped us answer those tough questions. If you’ve ever wondered if you are doing too much as a family or thought you should do more, you might want to read this book.

I have a voucher for a free copy of this book. When you leave a comment, your name will be added to the drawing to win the voucher (be sure to leave a link for your site in case you are the winner). Drawing will be held one week from today.

Linking up with: