A busy schedule has been good for him - when he has too much free time, he tends to get a little anxious. (He gets that from me - I'm happiest when I'm so busy I'm stressed out of my mind). My point is there's a balance to be found. You can keep them busy without giving them so much to do, they don't have time for friends and fun.
I totally agree! The more I have scheduled, the more time I seem to have and the higher quality of that time! We never seemed to lack time for family bonding, art projects, reading, cooking, creative play, friends, sleepovers, etc at home - even with all of the outside activities. Maybe in addition to "it depends on the kid" I should have added "it depends on the parent". I did as much as I could with my DDs at home without losing my mind, but they learned everything and moved on so darn quickly, and just seemed to need so much more than I could offer.
I think for our family, the busy schedule was good for all of us: we were all so intense we would have gone crazy and driven each other crazy spending any more time than we did cooped up together in the house. For my DDs, the scheduled activities were also fun time and friend time (in the batter box, watching siblings games with other older/younger siblings, waiting turns at gymnastics or swimming, there is a lot of socializing that goes on there.
