“Running around after the kids is exhausting”
“I have no time for me”
“Do as I say and not as I do”
“I just don’t have the time like I did before …. Them” (points to kids).
How many times have you heard other parents make these comments or something similar? Have you stopped to think, that even though lives change after kids, time management that includes prioritizing your OWN health along with the kids rarely happen? Being a good example to kids, rather than using them as an excuse, provides the gold standard for family health and well-being. Monkey see, monkey do!
Our values are shaped by experiences as well as by significant others who influence our lives – our parents, our teachers, our coaches, our friends. At Fitter Futures, we encourage all age groups to come in, feel good and keep fit. It is here that we also find many family groups working out simultaneously and consequently, parents are paving the way and showing their children that keeping fit is not just for the younger years, or just to make a particular sporting team, but rather a habit that should be maintained for life. Children will always DO what the adults closest to them do (Phillips, 2018).
Parents are important teachers and serve as role models for physical activity. Parental involvement is particularly relevant for their children because parent activity and encouragement have been shown to influence the activity patterns of their own children. In short, children will see your example as the gold standard of appropriate behaviour and thus, their values in exercising, eating well and making lifestyle choices will reflect your own example (Trotter, 2018). Your model is the most powerful tool you have.
Let Fitter Futures be your one stop shop. A place that caters for the whole family. A place that encourages and supports. A place where you and your family can forge a fitter future for life.
“Your children will become who you are; so be who you want them to be” (Anonymous).