My main focus of today’s blog was going to be about the
www.facebook.com/letsmove which I
LOVE!! We must be vigilant in getting our children out there and moving and we
as adults need to as well.
Food Labels Not Really the Problem
I am going to have to disagree with Mrs. Obama on this one.
I see no reason whatsoever to change the food labels that we have. Ok so read
the previous blog and make your own conclusion. Let’s Move on to Let’s Move!!
Daily Activity Is Important
Children must have daily activity built into their schedule
as young as possible. When my kids were young (around 6 months old) we did “mommy
and me” swim sessions at the YMCA. So obviously this was probably more about me
at this age, but it carried on as they got a little older. When my girls were
around 3 and 4 years old I got them involved in gymnastics at the YMCA and
roller skating at the local skating rink. When they were 5 and 6 years old we
were skiing. I didn’t go skiing for the first time until I was 20 years old. I
honestly hated my first time but, I persevered and now I love it! At 6 and 7
they were in PeeWee cheerleading and from there cheerleading was their love. I
guarantee that those girls worked out almost every day as cheerleaders. Those
girls never got enough credit for all that they did!! (Ok soap box moment)
So why was this so important to me? Many of you don’t know
but I was a teenage mother, and I was always worried that I wouldn’t be good
enough. This internal fear propelled me to do whatever I could to give my
daughters a “normal” childhood. I was divorced shortly after my youngest was
born and child support was minimal and usually non-existent. So everything I
did I did so with very modest means. I have to admit my thought process was not
so much about physical fitness as it was about my kids having fun and doing
things that I thought they would enjoy. Which brings me to my next observation…
We Want Our Kids to Have Fun
But, our kid’s definition of fun has changed, and not for
the good as it pertains to the physical activity of our children. Kids these
days define fun as computers, tablets, phones, gaming systems, and other new
technology that wasn’t even around when my kids were young. So I can understand
how parents are wanting to let their kids do things that are “fun” but, we as
parents need to balance technological fun with physical fun. We must include psychical
fun in our children’s lives. The easiest way to do this is organized
activities. There may be a some fees involved, but I urge you to search out
various ways to cover the costs or find locations that are not charging high
fees. Here are some ideas to get the costs covered, and not just for your child
but for others, too:
·
Car Washes
·
Selling of goods promoting the cause
·
Finding a sponsor—Many businesses would be very
willing to do this
·
Find church groups that have athletic programs
·
Local YMCA
·
Local public and/or after school program
·
Have your child start a business
o
Growing and selling garden foods
o
Babysitting
o
Mowing Lawns
Let’s Not Forget the Obvious
Our children look to us as parents when deciding how to live
their lives. The alternative is that they look to us as to how not to live
their lives. Decide which way you want your children to look at you and their
childhood. Do they see parents who care about their physical activity? What
they eat, by minimizing junk foods? Get out and walk as a family, go for a
hike, maybe get even more adventurous and go skiing, water skiing, gardening,
picking up leaves, shoveling snow!! Do it all as a family, and your children
will take notice.
Sherri Sue Fisher, author of TimerDiet
www.timerdiet.com
