My husband is an elementary teacher, so we often have conversations about young children. One topic that we talk about a lot is the activity level and athleticism of this new generation of young folks.
I believe that our society has a microwave popcorn mentality. We want things easy, quick, fast, and in a hurry. Think about the folks who would rather pay X amount of dollars for a wrap that claims to shrink their bellies, eliminate cellulite, and encourage weight loss in a couple days instead of exercising the old fashion way for relatively free (remember jumping jacks, crunches, planks, squats, running, and lots of other cardio require no equipment) for a few weeks.
What exactly are we teaching our children? When they see adults who would rather pay to get the perfect body through plastic surgery, pills, wraps, and other unnatural means, why would we expect them to want to be active?
Whenever my husband tells me he knows kids who get out of breath from running one lap, who don't know the basics of kickball, and who would rather stay inside instead of going outside for recess, I always say, "I refuse to raise a couch potato."
Unlike some 2 year old girls, my daughter loves basketball, football, and soccer. She dribbles her basketball (well tries really hard to dribble while saying "I dribble") , shoots a basket on her Little Tikes goal, and runs in the opposite direction screaming "defense!" Whenever we're in a store like Walmart or Target, she cries for every football, soccer ball and basketball she sees. We keep a basketball in each car for her to play with while we're on the road. She loves to run with her football and every now and then she attempts to pass it to me or daddy. Any round ball is her soccer ball. She kicks it and she tells me and her daddy to kick it too.
Not only does she like sports, but she also is really interested in exercising. That is mommy's fault (if you could consider it a fault). When she was a year old, my daughter would count my crunches for me while sitting on my tummy. She could only count to 10 then, but it worked for us. Now she can say and demonstrate (in her own little way) stretches, squats and pushups. Whenever she sees me doing jumping jacks, she does her own version and says, "I flap my wings, mommy!" During the day she decides when its time for me to exercise and tells me "let's run, mommy" or "time for exercising." She even goes as far as bringing me my walking weights with the instructions, "weights, mommy, do it!" She's really fascinated with my heart rate monitor and I've caught her trying to put it on a time or two. She's definitely my little personal trainer and my motivation to keep working out when I don't feel like it.
Of course my itty bitty loves normal toddler play like riding her tricycle, running in the front yard, and going to the park to climb, swing and slide. She's a very active little person and I love every bit of it. She pushes me and my husband to keep up with her, which isn't easy. I think the values of staying active will stick with her for a long time because my husband and I make it just as important as eating a balanced meal, reading, having manners, and going to church.
I thank my parents for always having a basketball goal in the back yard, for always encouraging me to ride my bike and to play outside, for buying me random little toys like the Skip-it, hula hoops and jump ropes, and for always having some random piece of workout equipment around the house when I was a child because it showed me that being active is a normal part of life. I especially thank them for coming outside to play with me.
Fellow parents, I challenge you to refuse to raise a couch potato and to refuse to be one yourself.
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