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Family Fitness
Build Strong Bodies and Strengthen Relationships
By Charlene Torkelson
When I was young, my own family included a daily game of baseball into each vacation day. There were only three on a team, but it was great fun. We found a schoolyard near our vacation cabin to serve as the field and spent the afternoons hitting and throwing the ball. My dad also made sure he mowed a badminton court into the front field for daily tournaments. As I recall, Dad was always the champion in badminton (although Mom may beg to differ on my recollection of the outcomes).
These days, our family yard is turned into a Sunday afternoon football field. During the fall, the neighborhood kids and parents know they can show up for a game of flag football every Sunday. We've made flags to tuck into waistbands from cut-up sheets and mark the end zones with colorful orange cones. It's never a problem to field two good-sized teams of all ages.
Family fitness builds stronger relationships within a family and healthier bodies. The effects for children last well past childhood and into adulthood. Remember my family baseball games? Brother Dan reported to me this week that after 17 years of baseball, he finally hit his first home run this year. I guess the activities we participate in as children really stay with us. So make fitness a family priority and go have some fun. It feels so good!
