"No rest for the weary..."

If you don't have kids and you live in the USA, let me shed some light on some things for you because this comes up every single day. Yesterday DD and I ran into our church youth group leader and his wife who are in their late twenties and have one son who is in kindergarten. He had just had his first soccer game of the year (and his life.) They explained how they yelled and screamed, and became crazy parents. I said to get used to it, because these days everything gets "set in stone" very early on. Parents really have to decide which sports their kids will play by an early age, because they have to be sending them to lots of extra classes for them to be able to exceed. By sixth grade, it's all pretty much decided. My co-worker has a son who is 8 years old, and the middle schools are already "scouting" who the great football players are on his competitive team. Even the little 8 year old cheerleaders are already in competitive cheer, and will most certainly make it since they have started so young.
(sigh) Is it ridiculous? Of course, but I don't make the "rules," I'm simply explaining them. Why is it like this you ask? Because college is so expensive, that ALL parents are trying to get their kids scholarships. Truly, that IS the reason. And the parents are the ones who are "fighting to the death." Okay, that's an exaggeration, but not much. DD's boyfriend is a senior and is now in the process of applying to colleges and looking for scholarships. His parents decided early for him that he is talented in tennis and band, and he does both for hours a day. Each activity he practices for four hours a day, and that is no exaggeration. He has no other life except homework, and that's to keep his grades up, again, so he can get a scholarship. This makes the kids all so competitive, that beating the other kid is always the goal. And the parents... it's actually disgusting. When DD won "Most outstanding" dance team member at her dance team camp this summer, there were parents that didn't speak to us for weeks after that. And when they did, they sarcastically referred to the fact that she got in many more photos than their daughter did.
Consequently no kid has their friend's "back." It's so dog-eat-dog that it's all just one long non-stop competition. And it gets really weary. Even the summers are sports camps to improve, or cheer camp, or dance camp or whatever camp. And in between camps, there are lots of classes and lots of practices in whatever activity they are in. And, to top it off, in DD's varsity cheerleading, there is even more drama than last year, as the mom of the girl who did not get cheer captain, is furious and trying to sabotage the one who did. It's all pretty crazy... It's also almost impossible for me as a single mom, to compete with all of this, but I'm trying for DD's sake.
Because the alternative still seems worse...