This post is inspired by Natalie over at Mommy of a Monster.
The one she wrote called “Summertime” REALLY struck a chord with me. So much so that I ended up leaving multiple comments against my will, stupid Blogger. Oh and my Google Reader is giving me fits. Some days I just absolutely hate computers.
Back to the subject at hand. People attribute childhood obesity to many factors. There is a factor that some might not have considered, but sadly, there is nothing that can be done about it as far as I can see. Summers for me as a child consisted of going. Nothing but. I was either swimming, on a bike looking for a place to swim, or simply running around outside with friends, going from one yard to another. It was so easy. It was so simple.
That, my friends, is not what my children will remember when they think back on their childhoods. I absolutely hate the hostile and overprotective (paranoid?) and dangerous world they will have to grow up in.
What I’m trying to get at here is that this is going to make for some lazy, lazy kids. Where does lazy get you? Lazy gets you nowhere. Nowhere as in not being out in the fresh air, running, swimming, playing, etc. I dwell on this often, and it literally makes me sick. Yeah, I remember eating refined foods, trans fats, and high fructose corn syrup before anybody even knew what all that meant. The thing is, all those awful calories and then some got burned up in a flash because I was PLAYING.
Playing doesn’t even have the same connotation anymore. It was so different for me than it is for my children. They ride their bikes but they get to go to our property line if they’re lucky. They play outside but only in our barricaded back yard. Of course being a good parent now means you have to relentlessly guard your children from unseen forces, and I have every intention of doing just that. I wish that they could grow up in those simple easy times that I did. I remember not wanting to have to go back inside the house. Now, the kids don’t want to go outside. WHAT THE HELL?!?! It’s just so much more fun with the video games and computers and TV. No wonder there is such an epidemic of overweight kids.
But honestly, what can you do about it? The hidden dangers are not going to disappear just because we wish they would.
I can only hope that I succeed in teaching my children how to be children and how to really LIVE. It will be a challenge, but I AM MOM and I WILL WIN this battle.
Who’s with me?!?!
{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
When I was young, we could go anywhere our feet/bikes could take us. You are right, children are more confined to spaces like backyards and driveways or as in your case, property lines. Parents have to take children places and that puts extra pressure on us. I hope that my fear for my son’s safety does not get in the way of his freedom to explore and keep moving. Heck, I do not want to be a taxi, so it probably won’t.
I don’t think I loathe anything like I do the heat. So being a taxi in the summer months is a negative. If I’m sweating you better run for the hills. Ask my husband. When hot I become a raging lunatic (that’s putting it nicely).
So to the back yard they go for another day. At least they have the most awesome swing set on the face of the planet.
I moved around a lot as a kid, so we lived in places where we could run free, and we lived in areas where we were confined. I think the key is making even those confined places fun so that they are not immediately drawn to the computers, videos, etc. My girls are just babies so I have a little while until I need to deal with this but I HOPE that I can instill the idea of fun and playing because it really is so important. Like you, I hate that I have to be so conscious of those hidden dangers, but I’m just going to have to fight to work around those.
We shall persevere! When they get older stick with me in fighting the good fight!
I think these days it’s about setting limits on “inside,” and being a “outside” promoter. My Mom was a “don’t come back until lunchtime” Mom, and it was awesome. While we don’t live in the woodsy, semi-rural kind of neighborhood that I grew up in, I still like to be outside as much as weather will allow.
Right now, I’m lucky, my son wants outside ALL the time! Sandbox, trucks, chasing the dogs, “helping” me in the garden… it’s my job now to keep up the momentum.
Mine are outside most of the time, but I’m despairing more about not being able to let them roam and explore around the neighborhood like I did as a child. It’s something they may or may not know they’re missing when the time comes, but it saddens me that they can’t be “turned loose.”
We are lucky enough to live, at the moment, in an area filled with children who do indeed wander the neighborhood. My issues have revolved around setting limits, as my younger daughter will just disappear into the houses that line our tree-filled street.
Freedom — It is one of the things we hoped for the girls when we moved to Oregon from CA, and it has been just magical.
I do feel comfortable enough to let them ride their bikes around the neighborhood, to hold a lemonade stand in front of our house (!!), and to let them run in and out of the 5 or 6 houses around ours.
It has been sweet.
But in CA? The neighborhood we used to live in? Not even.
Good thing you moved then. I bet they love it.
That all sounds so very Olivia-ish, doesn’t it? Especially the lemonade stand. Is there by chance a Francine in your neighborhood?
I already told you how much I totally agree with everything in here. When we were little we always were told to “go play outside”…which basically meant find something to do. We used our imaginations. We learned how to play on a team. How to stick up for ourselves. How to keep ourselves occupied. We watched TV maybe an hour a night. There was Atari (remember that) but we only got to play occasionally. I hope to remember this when my kids get older…I don’t want to raise couch potatoes!
Oh yes. Who could forget Frogger and Pitfall?
Aren’t children and their imaginations like a force of nature? I love to watch my boys pretend they’re pirates up in the top of their swing set playhouse. They make the scurvy pirates (neighbors) walk the plank quite frequently. I hear this one a lot too: “Aye Aye Cap’n Mom!” Life is good.
It really does seem as if there are people out there who must be thinking to themselves “I think I’ll raise my kid to be a loathsome couch potato.” Am I right?
First of all, Congrats on Being Blog Of the Month over at the bloggers club. Your blog link will be featured for the month:)
I worry way too much these days….when I was my eldest daughters age, I was doing things I could never imagine her doing. I protect them so much it’s almost unbelievable…but I have to here in FL….so many things happen it’s disgusting! But my kids are def. not Lazy! We live a rather busy life and do a lot of outdoorsy things here.
Ummm, wait…WHAT?!?! That is flippin awesome! I had no idea. After I read this comment I went over to the B-List and clicked over and over on the Blog of the Month button and it kept coming back to MY BLOG! ::gives a painfully lengthy thank you speech while sappy background music plays::
It’s so hard to find something to do here where we live that doesn’t involve heatstroke. It’s a tall order to keep my kids busy but I aspire to be one of the moms that raises kids that are not lazy. Florida would be tough.
How much are you being affected by the oil spill, by the way?
Thank You Thank You Thank You!
This post is so true. I think it means that our job as parents is so much more time consuming. My kids continue to be active, but I have to go along with them – we all ride bikes around the neighborhood, we all go swimming at the pool, we all go hiking, etc.
Our street is fairly safe. I have known all of my neighbors for a long time and we live next door to a police officer, but I don’t feel comfortable sending the 5 & 7 year old girls out to play without supervision.
Exactly. Time consuming. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could just turn our kids out into the neighborhood and not worry? I’m even hesitant to let my boys go in the back yard if I’m not out there, too. I don’t know. I may be a little over-paranoid.
I’m going to fall over dead when they get drivers licenses. Nevermind. I’m not going to think about it.
Hey! Thanks for dropping by!