The trap

I seriously don't know how kids that go to school get enough sleep.
My kids, home schooled, ages 8 1/2 and down are going to bed between 8 and 8:30 and are waking up at 7:30 or later.  They are dragging tired by afternoon and one is fighting a cold.

I see our neighbor girl leave at 7 in the morning for school each day, then after school she goes to an after school program because her parents work. Sometime after five everyone comes flying in the driveway for supper, homework, showers, and bed.
Last year she was sick most of the winter and could hardly come out to play.  She was seven then.

I am not saying that any one's life is better than anyone else's.  We know I am struggler.  But something deep inside me whispers that it doesn't have to be this way. 
Sadly I think that we as a society have become so addicted to things and a certain way of life that we work harder and harder to find ways to keep all the stuff.  All the stuff that in the long run doesn't really matter.  And our children suffer for it.  Long days of school, homework piled high, rushed family meals, stressed parents, added on activities that pull away from family time even more, and heightened sickness from lack of sleep, less fresh air time, and sadly for some, lack of good nutrition.
Even as a home schooling mom I find myself falling into the busy trap. 
Piano lessons, soccer practice, swim lessons, children's theatre, writing workshops, and the list goes on.
..and the kicker is that some of these things my children don't even like!  I just think they need to be involved so I push them into it.  My daughter asked the other day if we could just stay home and have a family game night.  Ouch.  Kids need their families.

Deuteronomy
4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.[a] 5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.




How can we do the above if we aren't with our children?