We all hear about "these moms today", how we allegedly overschedule our children with lessons and playdates and the like. And we wince and we say we're not like that. I don't think I'm like that, anyway. But I do schedule things for my daughter, because if I don't, she never gets to play with her friends. We don't live on the archetypical shady cul-de-sac magically full of children between the ages of 4 and 10. We live on a road with a 45 MPH posted speed limit and where the nearest child her age is a mile away.

And there are many neat opportunities out there. When I was a child I did Girl Scouts, and then I took riding lessons. I enjoyed every minute of those, but I didn't have the myriad choices that I see for kids now. Maybe it's because I have a bit more flexibility than my (single) mother did, and maybe it's because we live in a different place and time.

What kinds of activities have you chosen for your kids, and which didn't you choose, and how did you decide?