In years past, we’ve been too swamped to do after-school activities. There were a number of reasons for this, but in 2016 things changed.

This is part of our 100 Things in 2016 challenge. Here’s the full list.

The biggest thing is that Will is now at Sandhill. His emotional needs are huge, and especially in late 2015 and early 2016 those needs were so great we didn’t have room for anything but school and home. Now that he’s getting the help he needs, we have time and energy to devote to Lucy’s needs as well.

The second thing is living in the suburbs. Lucy’s school is only 7 minutes away, and she’s done at 3:30 most days, and 1:30 on Wednesdays. That opens up a huge number of hours for fun stuff.

Becky started doing some research, and it turns out there’s a fantastic facility that offers tons of activities, and it’s also only 7 minutes from home! So she put together a program that Lucy looooves.

Swimming! Once a week, 30 minutes. She’s graduated up four levels since she started.

Gymnastics! She’s been asking to do this for years, and taught herself quite a bit while she was waiting. Once a week for an hour.

Tae Kwon Do! There’s actually a class taught at her school, so this couldn’t have been easier to sign up for. Twice a week for an hour, plus forms practice at home.

Lest you think we’re over-scheduling her, you should know that Lucy’s also keeping up with her homework, and doing self-directed piano practice every morning before breakfast. And at least once every week we have to tell her no, we’re not doing any more activities right now.