Getting Kids to Exercise

I would guess that, sometime around the invention of radio, the first mommy started to fret that her little ones were spending too much on the couch or in their bunk beds laying being passively entertained by some sort of electronic babysitter or other. Indeed, while computers and the Internet may be more intellectually stimulating than the idiot box, at least in some ways, the fact of the matter is that not only children are spending more time on their keisters than ever and less time running around. No wonder most of us are struggling so much with our weight.

It gets worse because you think it would be easy to get a child to go out and play, but the more I talk with other mothers the more I realize that, while a lot of children are natural athletes who love to run amok — which, of course, brings up other issues — a number of other children are all too happy to be sedate slugs and emulate their 80 year-old great-grandparents, even if they are immobilized before Nickelodeon or The Cartoon Network and not Lifetime or Turner Classic Movies. Parents are still working to find ways to motivate kids to get off their bunk beds and out into the world and running around.

The trick is, I think, not to push too hard and remind the kids that play is actually fun. Not only that, when you’re done with it, you tend to feel a whole lot better. Actually, one way to do that is to do something active ourselves, It’s a total cliche but children really do learn by example. If they see us moving around and not immobilized for hours watching whatever godawful new reality show is the rage at any given moment, they’ll be likely to follow our lead, get more active and start running around.

Of course, then the trick is to make sure they do in the yard and not in the house. Too much indoor exercise, I’ve learned, can lead to injuries and destroyed bunk beds.

The preceding is a guest post from Rob- thanks, Rob! Interested in guest posting for {Not Quite} Susie Homemaker? Contact me!