Over the next few months, as activities resume, life will start to get busy again for your family.

Perhaps you are ready for the schedule to fill up; I’ve talked to some parents who actually miss the busy-ness.

But if you are like many families I’ve listened to over the past weeks, you’ve discovered the joy of connecting as a family in ways you’ve never been able to before because there was just no time in your chaotic lives.

Now is the time to prepare for re-entry into youth sports and other activities. If you would like to avoid the stress of the craziness that you were experiencing before Covid19 and hold on to some of the family times, then here’s a plan to help you maintain a family/sports life balance.

Start from Scratch.

Your family has been forced to clear the calendar and you have been given an opportunity to start from scratch with filling it up again. NOW is the time to re-evaluate every single thing your family was involved in before Coronavirus and weed out the things that are not necessary.

Be picky about the schedule.

Decide now how many activities you will allow your kids to be involved with. Don’t say yes to every invitation. Only choose things that truly reflect your child’s interests or talents. Don’t be tempted to fill up their time just for the sake of filling it up.

Schedule downtime.

Just as you schedule in sports schedules, work, and other events, do the same with their downtime. Put it on your calendar! Be sure your child has down time to do what they want. Be sure your family has scheduled time to hang out together. Don’t just hope it happens between appointments. Be intentional about it!

Hold a family meeting.

While you have the time, get the family together to discuss re-evaluation and re-entry. Ask them what they want to hang on to from lockdown and what they miss the most from before the pandemic. That will give you some direction on what things to cut out and what things you did as a family that they truly enjoyed.

This re-evaluation is not a parental dictatorship; it should be a family discussion and result in a family agreement. It’s important for you to listen to your kids on this one.

Although many of you have children that grieved the loss of youth sports and truly miss it, this pandemic has shown all of us that we can exist on less than we thought we could. Your kids didn’t have youth sports and they survived the experience. Keeping the family/sports balance may mean cutting out some things that you thought were a must before. Ultimately, your peace of mind and your family connection depend on it.

Janis Meredith is a family life coach who wants to help all parents raise champions. You can find out more at rcfamilies.com.