Examplary
What elements of our lifestyle do we pass on to our children? Already imbued with our genetic makeup, what part of how we live our lives gets imprinted on them too? When I look at my own parents, I see nothing but dissimilarity between what makes them tick, they’re interests and drives, and my own. I could just as easily have been into baseball, or romance novels with illustrated pictures of Fabio (that would be hard to explain to my wife), or the military or Warren Kimble artwork, but instead I have developed interests wholly foreign to those I mentioned.
Sunday, I spent the day working the registration table at a local mountain bike race, where the participants ranged from children as young as 10, to men as old as 62. The range of ages astounded me, not because of the higher end of the scale but because of the younger children that were involved. What drove them to mountain biking? America has the tendency to drown its youth with available sports activities. There are more options for kids as they enter the sports world than any other civilized nation. Mountain biking doesn't rank among the top 5 most popular, I am sure.
I spoke to some of the other volunteers, one whose sons were among the participants, and another whose children were just about to enter the pantheon of the sports world. When I asked them how they influenced or planned to influence their children in regards to sports, they both were apprehensive, but for different reasons. The man whose children were riding in the race put it best:
"I never thought either of them would pick up a bike and ride. One day, I went for a ride and my oldest asked if he could come too. Soon, we were buying him bikes too."
The other volunteer was concerned about a more recent phenomena: children inclined to inactivity.
"I always have the lingering fear that my kids will just want to sit around and play video games; that will drive me insane."
I think that we can want our children to do the things we do and that is a natural feeling; the joy we get from being active is something we want them to feel for themselves. But kids will do what they want to do. Giving them an example of activity, whether it be baseball, badminton, running or rugby, ensures that at least they are exposed to it, and then the choice is theirs to make.
Sunday, I spent the day working the registration table at a local mountain bike race, where the participants ranged from children as young as 10, to men as old as 62. The range of ages astounded me, not because of the higher end of the scale but because of the younger children that were involved. What drove them to mountain biking? America has the tendency to drown its youth with available sports activities. There are more options for kids as they enter the sports world than any other civilized nation. Mountain biking doesn't rank among the top 5 most popular, I am sure.
I spoke to some of the other volunteers, one whose sons were among the participants, and another whose children were just about to enter the pantheon of the sports world. When I asked them how they influenced or planned to influence their children in regards to sports, they both were apprehensive, but for different reasons. The man whose children were riding in the race put it best:
"I never thought either of them would pick up a bike and ride. One day, I went for a ride and my oldest asked if he could come too. Soon, we were buying him bikes too."
The other volunteer was concerned about a more recent phenomena: children inclined to inactivity.
"I always have the lingering fear that my kids will just want to sit around and play video games; that will drive me insane."
I think that we can want our children to do the things we do and that is a natural feeling; the joy we get from being active is something we want them to feel for themselves. But kids will do what they want to do. Giving them an example of activity, whether it be baseball, badminton, running or rugby, ensures that at least they are exposed to it, and then the choice is theirs to make.
posted by Unknown @ 6:33 PM
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