For most families, September heralds the start of new routines full of pickups and drop-offs, homework and after-school activities and bedtime rituals. My family is no different. We’re doing all these things, and we’re realizing the importance of having a schedule and sticking to it.

As we adjust to the new routine, I’m seeking balance. All around me, people are busy. There’s an ad campaign with the slogan, "America runs on Dunkin’," and it rings true. Who among us can’t recall a day where we had so much to do that that mid-afternoon coffee fix was a key part of making it happen? Lately, I have been wondering: When did the pace of life get so fast? Why are we so busy? And who, besides the coffee vendors, is benefiting from all this busyness?

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There was an accident a block from my house a few weeks ago. I came through the intersection, with both kids in the backseat, a few minutes after it happened. One bystander was directing traffic, another was talking on a cell phone, and a group was gathered around a small boy lying in the grass on the side of the road. By the time we pulled into the driveway, the police had arrived, and at least one ambulance followed.

I found out later that the accident had happened when a car sped through a red light, broadsiding a car crossing the intersection and sending it over an embankment. A man who runs a farmstand on the road where the accident happened told me he stood in front of his stand after the crash, motioning for oncoming cars to slow down so they wouldn’t plow into the disabled sedan in the middle of the intersection. He said he had to jump out of the way to avoid being hit by another driver in a hurry.

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Technology is partly to blame for the increase in the speed of life. It has given us the ability to communicate instantly, and we’ve come to expect everything to be just as fast. Technology has also given us lots of new things to do. Remember the days before answering machines were invented? If people called our homes and we weren’t there, they called back. Now, we’ve got e-mail and voice mail to check, both at work and at home; cell phones to charge, PDAs to program.

Technology has the potential to save us time, too. We can cook dinner in the microwave and do our shopping and banking online. But I suspect we are quickly filling any time saved with extra things, making us still in a hurry to do everything we want to do and be everywhere we need to be.

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Our kids are busy, and that makes us even busier. By early elementary school, most children have at least one after-school activity, and many have several. This can be a positive thing. I’ve seen examples of kids who learn to manage their time more effectively, and do better in school, when their schedules are busy. But I also worry about what we are teaching our children.

If they are always in motion, how will they learn the value of standing still? If they are constantly doing, will they ever have time to daydream, use their imaginations or appreciate nature? Are we raising a generation of kids so intent on getting from Point A to Point B that they can’t appreciate the journey?

These are difficult questions. For better or worse, times have changed. The pace of society has quickened, and those of us who wish things could slow down just a little have no choice but to accept this. That won’t stop me from trying not to get swept up in the tide of busyness, however.

This fall, between soccer and swimming and running and school and work, I will do my best to program in some unprogrammed days: weekend afternoons for jumping into leaves or carving pumpkins or taking a walk around the neighborhood, leaves crunching under our feet. Maybe we’ll take a leisurely drive with no destination in mind. We’ll admire the fall foliage, breathe in the crisp air and enjoy not being in a hurry.

As for the angry drivers behind me, well, I’ll be sure to give them a big smile as they pass.

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Lisa Miller is a freelance writer who lives in Oneonta. She can be reached at lisamiller44@hotmail.com.