I am all for the "you signed up for this activity and your team is counting on you, so you have to attend the practices and games" but I will, occasionally, know that we just need a break. That life WILL go on if we don't go to that soccer practice or Cub Scout game. And we DID Let the boys quit karate class, with only 2 lessons left, when they started crying before the classes... the instructor had a VERY loud voice and my eldest (who is sensitive to being yelled at) wasn't enjoying it at ALL.

 

It's usually me that wants the free pass, not my kids! As for the time thing, I made my kids each (well, the older 2!) an event calendar to help with that. I mark things like playdates on there and they can mark off the days until then. When they ask a million times when such-and-such is happening, I tell them to look at the calendar. It helps a little.

 

Free passes have been a godsend for us. I even give them to my students to opt out of one assignment per semester (just not the final exam or unit tests).

I think kids sometimes don't even realize they are taking on too much, and if they don't get down time it's like the domino effect, everything can topple for them. Sometimes they just need to rest.