My teenage daughter is into band and track and she competes in rodeos. On top of all that she is an honor student at school. I thought she was doing a lot, but we have met a family who's kids are doing all that and more. Sometimes 3 sports at a time, plus scouts and church events. I don't know when the kids have any downtime. The believe that by keeping the kids busy they don't have time to get into trouble! How much is too much?

Kids can get into trouble no matter how busy they are. It only takes a couple minutes to have sex or do drugs and ruin your life. I definitely think if you don't have a couple free hours to do homework each night and a couple days a week to spend some time together as a family you are too involved. Having a diverse life is good on college applications and makes for a wonderful citizen, but it does you no good if you are practically exhausted from no downtime.

Be very watchful though because sometimes these things that keep your children busy are just excuses for them to make something that is not good. Make sure that your kid has time for the family talking about anything as long as the parents are there to guide them. Being independent and busy is not a bad thing but they should also learn that parents are there to guide their way in the right path.

It's true that kids can get into trouble if they choose to, but normally when kids choose to sign up for activities, it because they want to. I remember I was that way as a teenager and that kept me focused and out of trouble.