Competition is a normal part of life. Organized sports are everywhere, but I feel they've gotten out of hand. They seem to be more for the parents these days than the kids. We've lost touch with why we started these games in the first place. Remember the movie Sandlot? That is the type of game kids want to be a part of. Not the crazy screaming coaches and psycho parents game that leaves the kids feeling like crap!
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Kids are supposed to be kids. I feel kids should be involved in some type of sport, organized or not. We have an obesity problem in this country. We need to fight back against obesity and it's our job as parents to make the first move.
You can do things right in your own backyard like running races, that will get your kids up off the coach and active. You can teach your kids how to be competitive right in your backyard. A little competition is good for kids. We've done too much hand holding with our kids.
We don't need to scream and put them down, but we do need to teach them that in life there will be a winner and a loser. It's OK. They'll get over it. You also don't always need a damn trophy because you LOST! That's for the winner! We need to teach our kids that there will always be somebody better than us at something! It keeps the kids from getting too big of a head. We have a lot of kids with 'big heads' in the world these days!
I remember when we'd have racing games all summer long with the neighbor's. You'd have thought we were playing for a million dollars, the way we played sometimes. There wasn't any prize money we just loved to play. These days kids don't move unless they're going to get something for it! That's really sad.
My kids love to race each other. We have races running, hopping, skipping, running backwards, jumping rope, dribbling a ball, riding big wheels (very funny when the older kids have to ride them), cartwheels, hopping, sack races and anything else that we can come up with as we are playing.
Racing games are a great way to exercise and get the family spending time together. Sometimes we use them as who gets to pick what we eat for supper that night or have for a snack. I've also used it as a tool to see who picks up the dog poop in the yard! (Boy, do they run when I use that one!) The ideas are endless as to what you can do.
We have an obesity problem in America and it's our job as parents to do something about it. Whether it's an organized sport or sack races in the backyard, get your kids moving. Remember, if we continue on this same path of 'everybody is a winner no matter what', the lazy kids won't ever try to win because they know the payout is the same no matter what.
If you are as passionate about kids having fun the old fashioned way, please visit me over at funwithfive.com
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