Getting Healthy Through Exercise
For most kids, summer means riding bikes and running through sprinklers and playing sports. For my kids? It means reading. And more reading. And going to the library for more books to read. So needless to say, they don't get a lot of exercise. Sure, they read at a post high school level, but they're not MOVING. They go outside for five minutes and beg to come back inside to their books. So desperate times call for desperate measures.
My mom found a website that sells pedometers for kids. Geopalz is the name; catchy huh? The cool part about these adorable things is that the kids can log their steps online and earn points towards prizes. Plus they're so cute!! My 8 year old got the ladybug and my 6 year old got the "Rock and Roll" one. Now the one downside to these is that they are on the honor system. Yes, the kid can shake these little guys and rack up points. So we did have to have the talk about how cheaters never win and all that. After a few times of getting caught cheating and making them reset their step counters, they figured out that Mom has the wisdom of Solomon so they stopped. :)
We rented an exercise video for kids and they worked out for over an hour, then ran up and down the stairs and outside and I was thinking, hey where were these beauties in May? I hope they don't get lost at school because they are not cheap. One was $20 and the other was on sale for $15. I just figured it was worth it for them to feel more in control of their own physical fitness. After all, I make sure I get exercise; I guess I just figured kids naturally liked moving. My kids don't watch TV, they don't play video games, they LOVE veggies...but they love reading more. And in their defense, it's not safe to walk while reading. :)
