I have fond childhood memories of taking long bike rides to a strawberry field and picking strawberries with my family. I believe I ate more than I actually managed to bring home. Although I was a late bloomer in my athletic abilities (as in my mid 20’s!) I was fortunate enough to have parents who would offer encouragement and support to participate in sports while growing up – they would be there in the bleachers cheering me on. They would also offer their time and support (and in my teenage mind what I thought was nagging) to go above and beyond and practice on my own and become more conditioned, stronger, better. We seemed to always be doing something fun outdoors – even if it was as simple as renting a paddle boat at a local park.
As a mother, I want to create opportunities to pass the same memories and hopefully passion for personal fitness that I have to my children. I look around however, and see the ‘Now Generation’ in a world of enticing video games that demand hours of one’s time to make any satisfying progress. I worry that my children will be among many other of their peers that will have a shortened life expectancy due to the more sedentary lifestyle our nation is leaning towards with every video game system release? Every toy that disables a child to slip further away from their imagination.
October is one of my favorite months of the year. Fall weather, no wait, FOOTBALL weather! October is also Family Health Month. One component of health is fitness! Even the network Noggin gets in on the month long event and shuts down the 24 hour preschooler television network for an entire day to encourage children and their families to get outside and play.
As a family we do quite a lot of active and hands on activities. This past summer, my daughter learned how to ride her bike with training wheels. I am anxiously looking forward to her growing stronger so she can ride her bike with me as I run. One day we went hiking in a state park and Meredith asked me if we could go kayaking. I have a memory to look forward to creating with her now as I promised her we would go as soon as she was strong enough.
Meredith also started dance classes last month and is learning about muscles and energy at school – bringing about an actual awareness of her body. As a mother, I feel protective of her – I want her to grow up with a healthy and positive body image. I wont be able to shield her away completely from those video games and negative media outlets that tend to ingrain images of what a girl or a woman is expected to look like – but I can encourage a healthy family lifestyle.
Tips from our house to yours:
· Eat at least one sit down meal together as a family DAILY– it enforces good eating habits and establishes a reconnection.
· Have the children help prepare meals. When they feel apart of the meal making process, they are more willing to try new things when prepared by them! Meredith tried broccoli and asparagus because she cooked them.
· Plan a fun active family event often: Go hiking, biking, skating, kite flying, build a fort, swimming, have races. Silly things that that get you moving – but mean the world to your little one. I often ask Meredith when she is holding my hand in a parking lot if she wants to skip to the store. If you ever see us skipping into Target – please honk!
· Clean together! We have Cinderella Saturdays. We all clean until the house is spotless – then we go get cleaned up ourselves and go play! Cleaning burns calories – and I think we burn a little more in our house because we jam out to booty shaking music while we dust and clean windows and squat to wipe baseboards.
· Be a good role model – our children look up to us – it all starts with ourselves. This goes for our actions as well as our words.
At Stroller Strides and Luna Mom’s Club of Southeastern Connecticut, we have a few special playgroups this month in support of Family Health Month. This Tuesday we will meet and let our toddlers show us what they know. After all, they watch our every moves. Members share with me that their child showed them a special stroller strides exercise – so come and show us your skills! We will also be hosting a stability ball soccer match next week. This is an event you don’t want to miss – my abs are hurting just thinking about how much laughing there is to be had. Get out there and ‘move it move it’ with your kids!
