« It’s Time for Goal Call Monday | Main | Blog Mastermind Opens Tuesday, July 29 »
Family Moment in Fitness
By Cindy | July 22, 2008
Remember the Troll, The Geller Cup, in one of the Friends’ Thanksgiving Episodes? It was ugly, beat up and deserved being thrown in the trash, but to Monica and Ross, it was a prized possession of their family football games!
Life is made up of those little memories. Remember when your baby was taking his first step? Or how grandpa wrapped his arms around his granddaughter? Family moments are shared among sibling, aunts, uncles and the children years and years later. A key component to combining childhood memories to the joys of fitness is our opportunity of instilling a lifelong love for physical activity.
As a parent, it’s our responsibility to share experiences with our children in a positive and uplifting manner. The opportunities abound for ways in which we can create those experiences:
- Your Childhood Games: With younger children, it’s easy to tap into their imagination and go with the flow. The excitement and entertainment You bring will have them giggling and fully engaged. Games such as tag, chase, Cowboys and Indians and more are easy to play.
- Sports played in the backyard: Skill is not a prerequisite for any sports we play with our kids. As they get older, then the competition might heat up, but they still enjoy playing and attempting/possibly overtaking Ma’ and Pops! Soccer, basketball, volleyball, tennis, rachetball, crochet, and a wide variety of sports are easy to recreate with the family.
- Competitive Sports are challenging, but viable ways of strengthening family bonds. Together, a sport played amongst family and friends can create an enjoyable evening outside of the home. With the wide variety of sports levels, clubs and groups, it is possible to find the best fit for your family. The key to competitive sports is knowing your children’s (and your) personality enough to find the right match. I grew up on competitive sports and having my family nearby was always a thrill. We supported each other and had a great time!
- Outdoor Activities: Hiking, camping, biking, and water activities are wonderful ways to enjoy nature and be physically active. Walking around the block at home and taking the city green ways are a few of the opportunities that are close to many neighborhoods.
Take a moment and think about family moments.
- What do you do as a family?
- Have you been doing things that are fitness related as a family?
- How are you able to reorganize your lifestyle to dedicate a night to family fitness?
- Are you able to sit down at dinner and discuss what physical activities can be shared as a family?
- What is your “Geller Cup?”
It may not be an easy task, but the benefits of creating an evening once, twice, four times a month will work wonders for fitness and the family bond.
Don't forget to subscribe to my RSS feed and join in the Journey. Thanks for visiting!
Topics: Cardiovascular Activities, Mom Stuff |
What do you think? Leave a comment. Alternatively, write a post on your own weblog; this blog accepts trackbacks.
With two young kids, we fit fitness into our daily lives with walks to the park, playing at the park, playing in the back yard, hikes, trips to the dog park, family bike rides, and walks to my parents’ house for Sunday dinner (they live a mile away). We find that the more they are active, the better they sleep!
We hope to make evening bike rides/walks a lifetime habit for our family (sunlight permitting, anyhow as the winters are tough for that in Seattle!).
I imagine that as the kids get older and have homework, afterschool activities, etc. that we will sit down and make one night out of the week dedicated to family fitness. To help US as parents keep the balance, it might be the kids riding bikes beside us as we run . . . though we’ll have to wait and see where the kids’ interests lie. I think it is important to incorporate their interests to keep them actively and happily invovled. We want them to embrace an active lifestyle, not be bullied into it.
This is a great post. My kids are teens now, and when they were little I worked full time shift work, so (believe it or not) our best together time was when we did housework. We used to sit on the floor together to clean out cupboards, we folded the laundry together at night before story time, and we each had our jobs in the kitchen during meal preparation and clean up. My son at 19… “Mom I need to talk about something” me “OK what about” Son.. “I’m going to go put my laundry on the line. Come out with me.” And there I will go and sit on the stoop while he does his laundry and tells me about the new girl… it’s wonderful!
I have really enjoyed some of the posts on your blog. You’ve sent me down memory lane! I know my readers would too. Would you consider adding your blog to the Be Naturally well community so more health conscious bloggers and readers can find you easily? Here’s the link http://www.benaturallywell.com/blog/add-your-blog/
Many blessings, and thanks for the inspiration!
Shelley
Thank you Brianna for sharing your great experiences as a family. It is great when we can find activities that align with the family. We definitely don’t want fitness to feel like works. It’s fun!
Shelley, I love the way you’ve incorporated the home and family talk time together as your children grew up. It becomes a natural progression of loving life in the home. I’m keeping these ideas in my back pocket as the little ones get older. Finding a way to make chores not such a chore would be fantastic.