Clichés, ahhhhhhhh…you gotta love them. “Use it or lose it” is one that gets tossed around quite a bit in my household for good reason. I want my children to understand this concept. I want them to comprehend the correlation between lack of physical activity and muscle atrophy. At every opportune moment, I try to illustrate or reiterate what happens to brains cells when they are not stimulated or utilized. Above all, I want my teenage daughter to fully grasp the concept that surfing between Nickelodeon, Disney, Cartoon Network or Fox family channels with her remote control and darting downstairs (several times) to grab a snack or a drink does not count as exercising.
Sometime last year, we were getting ready for a weekend getaway. I handed our list of toiletries to "Scrawny" and asked her to do the packing. Of course I had to double check. Then I counted the toothbrushes. Mine was missing and I wanted to know why!
“Well, I tossed it in the garbage” she blurted. “Why would you do such a thing?” I asked.
“Because you always say use it or lose it and I never see you brushing your teeth that much.”
“I do too,” I replied.” “But you didn’t brush last night.”
Phew! She got me there! But I was the grown up. I had a pretty logical idea of how to wiggle my way out of that sticky situation. I looked her straight in the eye and carefully explained that because she didn’t actually catch me in the act should not translate to…I didn’t do it. Or did I? Well, whatever! The bottom line is… we need to be mindful of what we do and say in the presence of our very impressionable young minds. We must especially try to walk the talk while they are looming around. After all, we want them to follow in our footsteps…don’t we?
Sometime last year, we were getting ready for a weekend getaway. I handed our list of toiletries to "Scrawny" and asked her to do the packing. Of course I had to double check. Then I counted the toothbrushes. Mine was missing and I wanted to know why!
“Well, I tossed it in the garbage” she blurted. “Why would you do such a thing?” I asked.
“Because you always say use it or lose it and I never see you brushing your teeth that much.”
“I do too,” I replied.” “But you didn’t brush last night.”
Phew! She got me there! But I was the grown up. I had a pretty logical idea of how to wiggle my way out of that sticky situation. I looked her straight in the eye and carefully explained that because she didn’t actually catch me in the act should not translate to…I didn’t do it. Or did I? Well, whatever! The bottom line is… we need to be mindful of what we do and say in the presence of our very impressionable young minds. We must especially try to walk the talk while they are looming around. After all, we want them to follow in our footsteps…don’t we?
1 comment:
Use it or Lose it. LOL! I hope my child is a step or two ahead of following in my own footsteps. As a parent, I genuinely hope to raise a kid better than I, or at least no worse, LOL! That's some tricky business. Keep up the great work. Love this blog.
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