Make it Normal
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| Run Forest Run 5k (Peyton was six years old) |
My son has learned that all the adventures we have are just
part of our lives.
For the most part he thinks all the races, workouts and
crazy runs we go on are normal.
Take this past weekend; he thought it was completely normal
to wake up before 6:00am to watch the Olympic Women’s Marathon. He also thought it was normal to go next door
and ask his buddy to go to the track, run a trail and go swimming (before 9:00am).
I loved that he never thought twice about running a two mile trail run, throwing javelin in the middle of the football field and then
running 100 meter timed sprints on the track (his idea, not mine). He made it seem so normal and fun that his
buddy was just as into it as he was.
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| Polar Bear Plunge - just another normal day |
I am convinced that this is the only way to keep our kids
healthy. My son eats crap at times (me
too), but he knows it’s not what he should be eating all the time. He watches TV and plays video games too, but
he knows it’s not what he should be doing all the time.
If we can make it normal to do these things in moderation,
but also make all the other things that seem so strange to kids normal (like eating well and exercising) we may actually be able to make a dent in this
huge problem we are facing.
My friend and I were talking about something similar at dinner tonight and the weird questions we get when we try to eat healthy- how if we ate the "normal" American diet, no one would think we're deficient in something because of limiting meat, getting regular exercise, etc. "Normal" is so relative.
ReplyDeleteCongrats to you for making regular exercise and healthy living a part of your life and passing it on to your son :). You're such a great example for him and also for so many families!
So true Amy! I say this all the time, but its worth repeating. When I started running, people would caution me about doing too much and tell me I was going to kill my knees or get hurt. But when I was eating two or three cheeseburgers a day, no one said a thing...
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