Too busy?

After reading a post this morning from Pampered Mummy, it got me thinking.

I often wonder where the ‘stopping’ line is.  My daughter loves to dance and has Tap and Ballet after school on Monday and Friday. She also has swimming on a Sunday, as I consider that a ‘life’ skill. But then I need cover for her on Wednesday and Thursday, so she does Drama and Maths at her school. I do feel this is too much, but some of it happens out of necessity. If, and it’s a big if, I had the money and the time, I would let her have riding lessons. But she is actually very happy doing none of it and just having a simple play date. I do feel that ‘down time’ is just as valuable and is also much needed in their busy little lives.  I can remember that as children, we would play en masse out on the street with all the other children from the neighbourhood.  We would play marbles on the metal plates that covered the drains.  We would play jacks.  Everyone rode their bicycles along the pavement.  We went running through the neighbours houses and into the back gardens.  We just played.  I had one class and that was a dance class on a Saturday morning.

So in this age where all our lives are too busy, are these activities now just driven out of necessity, need or a desire for enjoyment?  And who do they really benefit?