I am so tired of hearing about childhood obesity, the lunches parents pack, TV time, and everything else out there that people point to lazy parenting. Yet somehow every educational woe in this country is the school's fault, never the parents. As is the case most of the time, it's always from the knuckleheads who don't even have kids but have all the right answers and can pass judgment better than anyone.
I am so tired of hearing people "talk" about crap with only half their facts and most of the time people didn't ask for the opinion in the first place. Maybe it's all the self righteousness on FaceBook that is getting old. I don't care what you think about kids these days, I don't care what you think about school lunch, I don't care how committed you are to saving the world, I don't care if you're vegan because of animal treatment, blah, blah, blah.
Until you DO something, refrain from judgment and criticism and forcing these opinions onto others.
It was Get Up and Move Week, or something like that in my kid’s school. The idea is to turn the TV off and go outdoors and get physical activity. Each day you are able to do that, you earn a stamp on your passport. Once the passport is full you get some token prize that always clutters up my pantry. I noticed the passport and made the comment that I needed to make sure I sign it for each day.
The answer I got was golden, "Who cares about that stuff mom? I never watch TV and I'm outside playing all the time. It’s not like it’s hard to get the card filled. Don’t bother.”
I thought back to last night’s sled pulling and how I had to tell Mojo if certain chores weren’t done by the time I got done lifting, she was not sled pulling with me. As expected, the chores weren’t done because she got sidetracked. I told her she wasn’t able to sled pull with me. Sheer panic flashed across her eyes and she begged for one more chance. She WANTED to go pull the sled with me. Since she’s so cute and we understand the value of exercise, I wanted her to be successful and join me.
The point is, if you’re a parent what you DO sets the stage for what your kids will do. Training is a way of life at our house and we take every opportunity in the world to integrate our kids into our activities. It’s paying off leaps and bounds with their love of the outdoors, physical activity and desire to push themselves physically. And yes, feeding them nails for breakfast always helps. If you don’t want sissies for kids, teach them young to man up, get tough and learn how to deal with adversity. Let's get back to enjoying a challenge, appreciating hard work and expecting excellence from ourselves.