Lets talk weight...and laziness

So as most everyone knows my daughter started soccer. She HATES it...although her father is in denial and refuses to think his daughter could possibly not like his favorite sport. I fight with her every Tues and Thurs for her to go, while there she plays 10min and then wants NOTHING to do with it. Now I'm all for getting your kids in sports and giving them a way to get out some energy-but at what point do you decide it's not working out and pull them out. I think when the coach is saying "you'd rather just sit on the sidelines" to your daughter, it's time to make a decision. She didn't want in it, she was just signed up into it, so I dont feel like we're teaching her to not finish what she started when she really has no clue as to what she was getting into. Daddy just took her. Now what does this have to do with weight?? Well let me explain. To get her to "play" her father tells her they will get ice cream after. I'm dead against this. One thing that a lot of psychologists say to avoid is rewarding children with food. Why?? It makes complete sense. How many of us have overweight family??? How many of us have watched our family members stuff themselves FULL during holidays or out of sadness. I can promise all of us. This is because they have all learned to lean on food as a "side" if you will to their emotions. Thus making this huge circle with food as the constant. If you give your child "food" as a "good job" or "it's okay" they will associate food with those feelings. NOT GOOD. As someone who HAS struggled with my weight in the past, I can promise you that you never want your child to look in the mirror and no matter how skinny they are, they always will feel fat bc they have gotten so self concious. On the other side, you dont want your child to look in the mirror and see boobs...at 9.

So where did I get so disgusted that I felt the need to post? At soccer on Tues the kids played the "blue" team. on the blue team was a little boy (they are 3 and 4 yr olds) His thighs would rub together and he'd just sit after a couple mins. I couldn't take my eyes off of him. The whole family was large, but this poor little boy was on the road to gross obesiety. They had a cooler sitting next to them and instead of giving their son water to quench his thirst during soccer they gave him Mt. Dew. Disgusting-this is another reason I think parents should be screened. Don't get me wrong my daughter drinks pop, juice boxes etc. But serioulsy playing outdoors in scortching heat, heck when it's just hot out our family more than triples our water intake. If the kid doesn't like water, try flavoring it with lemon or something, or BUY the flavored water. Dont keep it in the "water bottle" buy them a cool drink bottle they would like to drink out of. Anything to try and talk them into drinking more water. Also Tues was Gage's 1st bday which also coincided with Kaelin's Soccer so after we went for ice cream. For the hour that we were there I promise you probably 40-50ppl were in and out. Out of all those people that came and went probably 10 were not overweight, and that included us!!!!! I'm sorry I know that weight is a struggle...but the last thing some of these people need is ICE CREAM!! One girl in particular stood out. She was probably 8 or 9 and was in a size Woman's 12. She had "fat" boobs, not boobs from maturity but boobs from being overweight. She could barely sit without rolling over. Unfortunately this is NOT the little girls fault. I know some people just run big but this family wasn't one of them. Imagine being 8yrs old and not even being able to walk down the stairs without running out of breath. SERIOUSLY AND AS PARENTS YOU THINK THIS IS NORMAL??? I'm sorry but if I saw that happening to my child grilled chicken and veggies it is for dinner.

I'm sorry I may be ANAL about my weight. You may think that I care too much what I look like. But let me explain something. One of my mothers friends was married, she went in for a check up with her doctor a year later. The dr came in a yelled at her cuz she had gained 5lbs. She said to him "what's the big deal...it's only 5lbs"..in turn do you know what he told her "5lbs a year for 20 years is 100lbs"...low an behold 20yrs later she is 100lbs heavier and is kicking herself in the butt for not taking care of it when it would'be been easier. It's easier to lose 5lbs than to lose 100. Think about it.

So many parents think TV is a good alternative for kids. TV and video games..they don't put a limit to them becuase they are "educational" Hell I'm guilty of depending on the tv a little too much since the beginning of this pregnancy..but soon we'll get back to our more challenging outdoor activities and actually have some really cool things planned!! Even schools are getting into the act and not teaching children cursive and half the time don't even make them handwrite anything because of computers. I am a calculator dependent math wiz. Why?? Becuase instead of making us use our brains they handed us calculators in 4th grade. Now kids aren't going to know how to spell because they are introduced to "spell check" in third grade!!! L.A.Z.Y. Teachers don't want to spend the extra effort to "read" the kids handwritting. Instead they can make them type making their jobs easier...for themselves. In turn teaching the kids the easy way is the best!! Part of me would love to home school my children because the ideals just aren't their anymore!!! So why would kids think that going outside to run around an play would be a good idea when it's easier to just sit inside?? I do not understand the mentality of some parents now a days!! TV is not the answer to everything. I'm sorry I would prefer my children to master their english before they learn spanish. I would like to know why all these people are blaming fast food joints and large preportions for the obesiety. We all know what is healthy and what is not...but it's up to us to live by it. We all know that walking is better than sitting, running is better than walking. They're obese...not dumb. A lot of these adults who are obese grew up with "eat everything on you're plate, they're are ppl starving in indonesia" Not allowing them to know their body and know when they are full...instead making them stuff themselves stretching their stomach causing a vicious cycle. As parents it is up to us to monitor what our children eat, do and say. Yes that is a lot on our plates, after all we are raising the future.