3/11/16 Pushing Our Kids To Their Limits?

    Chubs was just accepted into a program for next year.  It sounds real prestigious considering something like 215 kids applied for the 25 positions and only 5 students from his school were selected.  The program is Einstein Junior Advanced Academic Program.  Wife says it is sponsored by the STEM program of which Boy was a part of when he was in high school.  I am all for giving my boys opportunities I never had, and I am even for pushing them harder than the kids next door.  I feel that the only way to achieve more is to do more.  Life doesn't hand the most important jobs to donkeys who sit on the couch all day.
    Right now, without any input from us, Chubs says he wants to be a geneticist, working on making people better through gene therapy and research in those fields.  I know it is in its infancy, and by the time Chubs finishes post graduate work, if he gets there, gene therapy might be hitting its stride.  What worries me is what I saw for Boy.  Once he was in high school and in the STEM program, he didn't take elective courses, like art or music.  Everything was very serious, and when he was working on his rocket projects, he would be lost in their garage for weeks at a time.  We would even go drop food for him there because it was so important he not stop what he was doing.
    I don't deny that those types of deadlines are good, once in a while, you can figure if you are the type of person who thrives in being challenged.  The other side of the coin is if you are a little immature, you might get a rude awakening and figure you don't belong.  I don't want either of my boys thinking that they don't belong in whatever pursuits they want to chase.  It worries me, Boy is a little lost right now, spring break is coming just in time.  I feel he needs to come home, and spend some time with us.  He might feel lost in a big university, he never was for making friends real easily, and at this stage, you need a network of people around you, even if it is just to have lunch with and change your thought process for awhile.  He just carries such a big burden on his shoulders.  He wants to conquer the world, and that is great, but you cannot put yourself in a corner and think it's you against the world by yourself. 
    I worry Chubs will be pressured too young and miss out on the little things in life.  People need downtime to think and wonder.  Every minute of the day should not be filled with tasks so gargantuan that they overwhelm the kid.  For now, I will celebrate with him.  We are proud of him.  I went and bought him a new video game, and he wants to go eat Pappadeaux sometime during spring break, so we got that to look forward to.  I'm going to need Boy to slow down, he overcommits with his friends sometimes, and although I like them and they are a great group of kids, sometimes I feel like he should just come home and disconnect from the world.