Getting your kids to listen to you isn’t easy.

Amazing how they can tune you out every time you give them a directive. But then when we’re having a parental discussion in the living room, my 12-year-old will sprout super ears and yell out from his bedroom down the hallway and around the corner, “What did you say about me?”

Kids can listen when they want to.

Well, I’m inviting you to try a special listening exercise with your children. It’s something I added to our routine one summer when Hannah was 7 and George was 4.

See, I was really feeling the strain of their alliance with entropy. It seemed like too many days started off okay. But quickly spiraled into more and more chaos until I lost it or in desperation I sat them in front of the TV.

My husband recalls that the look of desperation on my face when he returned in the evening said it all.

So I decided that I had to make a change. And what better place to change the whole day than by changing how we started it.

I knew from experience that you can set the tone of the whole day with what you do in the beginning.

So every morning after breakfast, teeth-brushing, dish-washing and straightening up, here’s what we did:

We gathered in the living room, found a spot far enough away from each other so that no one could complain about errant feet or fingers and got comfortable.

Once everyone was settled in, I instructed them to close their eyes and listen. See what they could hear around them.

Now, admittedly, the first time we did this, Hannah had to interrupt the quiet several times to tell George to stop shaking his leg back and forth.

And George had to complain that Hannah was breathing too loudly.

And over the course of the first few days, the five minutes I was aiming for usually dissolved in giggles and guffaws as we tried this new venture.

But slowly but surely, things started to change.

We actually had a quiet few minutes of listening.

When five minutes had passed, I asked them what they heard.

“The dog barking.”

“I heard the wind.”

“George’s foot banging the couch.”

“My breathing.”

“My belly making noise.”

They started to look forward to seeing what they could hear. And as they got into the exercise more and more, we were able to extend the time more and more.

We added in a few yoga stretches and often did two sets of listening.

Now you could call this meditation. Or you could tell your children to try to be quiet for 5 minutes.

I don’t think that would fly.

But by turning it into a game – a challenge to listen and see what you can hear, it became something they wanted to do.

Let Listening For 5 Minutes Help You Start Your Day With Peace

Now, I’ll admit, it didn’t completely and dramatically transform our day like I hoped.

It seems children and entropy walk hand-in-hand. It’s a hard connection to break. I learned that I had to work harder on structure throughout the day as well.

But it did make a difference. A subtle change entered into our routine. The pandemonium that threatened didn’t seem quite so close. And while I wasn’t scientific about documenting this, I’d hazard to say it didn’t hit quite as frequently.

And we had a different feeling of closeness that helped balance out the eventual conflicts. I enjoyed this moment with my children. I wasn’t in the mode of manager as much as fellow explorer.

It was a revelation to enjoy some calm together.

If anything, adding this to our routine gave me a moment to connect with the centered, calm core I needed in order to be the adult in the household. You know, the one not throwing a tantrum too.

So try it out and see what happens. It doesn’t have to be a long time. Although with kids, just transitioning into it and getting everyone settled can take a good 10 minutes.

Like it did for us, it may set a different baseline for your day. It may help you set a different tone for how you communicate with each other. And bottom line, as a parent, it gives you a moment of peace that can be sorely needed.

Additional Hint: Our listening sessions are pretty peaceful in our country home. A stark contrast to the honks and sirens we heard in Brooklyn. If you live in the city, listen a little for some observation skill-building. But then you might want to add listening to a soothing CD of thunderstorms or ocean waves.

Also, if you like this exercise, it makes a great addition to your workday as well. Find out more about how you can use listening to bring clarity and productivity to your work or home business.

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It breaks my heart . . .

Riding on the tail of the growing childhood obesity epidemic is another – just as destructive – threat to our children’s well being.

Our children are losing their ability to think and learn.

A big part of this worrisome trend I’ll place squarely at the feet of electronics. I’ve delved into this a bit in my article on Thinking 101 and I’ll be doing more on this in the future.

But the big problem – in many ways linked to the screen-addiction – is the lack of exercise and movement.

As I’ve said many times, we’re built for action.  We stay healthier when we exercise.

But now we’re learning that exercise means more than just a trim figure – it is essential for a sharp mind.

A growing body of research demonstrates that in addition to keeping you in shape physically, moving your body also keeps you in shape mentally.

And much of this research focuses on how exercise can help children in the classroom. A team of researchers at the Medical College of Georgia have been doing some terrific research showing how important exercise is for your children.

And I thought I’d pass it along . . .

When Kids Exercise It Helps Them Learn And Think

Dr. Catherine Davis, a clinical health psychologist, and her team worked with 171 overweight 7- to 11-year-olds for 3 months.  Every day after school they spent 40 minutes exercising after school

The research team measured the results using testing and found that intelligence scores increased an average of 3.8 points for the children who exercised 40 minutes a day.

But even more specifically, the children saw significant improvements in their math skills. And this is without any additional math classes.

MRI’s showed that the children who exercised had increased activity in the prefrontal cortex of the brain – an area associated with complex thinking, decision-making and correct social behavior.

The folks in Georgia aren’t the only ones studying this . . .

My daughter used our family for a similar experiment for a science project. She had us exercise on specific days. After each round of exercise we took a math quiz and memorized a random list of numbers which we had to recite after an interim of a few minutes. For comparison’s sake, she also had us do the same tasks on days we didn’t exercise beforehand.

While she found a slight increase in performance, the difference was not significant. And this fits neatly with what other researchers in the exercise-brain power arena have been finding: The big gains are over time and from habitual exercise.

In other words, one bout of exercise may wake you up to do a math problem. But the real brain-building will come in making it a routine thing.

The takeaway here?

With school back in session our children need exercise more than ever.  And they need it regularly for the best results.

So even though your schedule has gotten a little more hectic . . . there’s dinner to cook . . . homework to help on . . . and more . . .

Make sure you squeeze some activity in.

Maybe it’s my old standby – a dance jam to some favorite tunes for 15 minutes.

Maybe you go on a family bike ride after dinner or play a little soccer.

But give your children the mental boost they need to succeed.

Make sure your kids exercise.

What are your thoughts on this? Have you seen the same patterns? Have you come up with creative solutions that have made noticeable differences? Please share in the comments.

You also might want to check out this other stellar resource for brain health that works for the whole family.

Source:

By Davis, Catherine L.; Tomporowski, Phillip D.; McDowell, Jennifer E.; Austin, Benjamin P.; Miller, Patricia H.; Yanasak, Nathan E.; Allison, Jerry D.; Naglieri, Jack A. Exercise improves executive function and achievement and alters brain activation in overweight children: A randomized, controlled trial.. Health Psychology, Vol 30(1), Jan 2011, 91-98

Interested in sharing this with your readers? You are welcomed to republish it. We only require that you republish it in its entirety and with the following attribution:

Sarah Clachar draws on her background in biology and health education to help parents and kids exercise more and stay healthy together as a family. To create your own customized family fitness plan for free, go to http://www.fitfamilytogether.com.

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If you wanted to go for a run, it usually meant you were planning a long jog on your own or with another adult.  If you had kids, you probably snuck it in early in the morning before everyone got up or grabbed an hour in the evening.

Getting a run in usually meant finding a solid chunk of time away from the rest of the family.

It doesn’t have to be that way.

First of all a lot of the rules have changed.

1.    You don’t need to run for a long hour to get a good workout.  Researchers have determined you get more health benefits from interval training (intense activities like sprints alternated with short rest periods) than from long jogs.  More lean muscles, more fat burning, more lung and heart health, more healthy blood sugar levels.
2.    You don’t need to do all your moving at once. Even though you don’t need to run for an hour, you do need to be moving more than most of us do. We’re built to move around – not sit – all day.  And health experts are seeing that this kind of approach brings results. Short runs here and there can add up to an entire workout by the end of the day. In fact, if you mix running into your day using the suggestions below, you’ll probably get even more time in on the run than if you went to the gym for just an hour.

Below you’ll find a bunch of ways – most of them stolen from kids – to get a run in without sacrificing family time.

Running Like A Kid

One thing kids do well – they don’t stand on ceremony when it comes to running.

They don’t wait until they’ve put on sweat pants to work out. They’ll run in a dress with Mary Janes . . .

They run in hallways, along the poolside, away from you in a busy mall . . .

Kids run at the most inappropriate times, in the most inappropriate clothing and in the most inappropriate places!

Unlike us adults who follow protocol, they don’t go for A Run.

But hey, maybe we should take a lesson here.

Don’t go for A Run, just run whenever you get a chance. Here are a bunch of excuses to do so:

1.    Race you to the . . .

How many times do kids say, “Whoever gets there first gets [fill in the blank]!”

Find ways to turn ordinary journeys in to races. Race to get the mail. Race to get to the car. Race to get door first.

OK. Sometimes you don’t have sweats on – maybe you have heels on and work pants. You don’t have to race everywhere. But where you can, add this in.

And even if you can’t put in an all out sprint, just by hustling a bit in your slacks you still have on from work, you’ll burn some extra calories.

2.    Try and catch me!

Bathtime, bedtime, dinnertime – interesting how every time it’s time for something to get done your little ones get evasive. And to add insult to injury they start to giggle as you try and catch them.

Well, turn the tables. They want a story read? Tell them they have to catch you first. They want a snack? Just try and catch mom first.

3.    Can’t you see I’m relaxing?!

How many times have you been catching a moment of relaxation when the inevitable, “MOOOMMM” or “DAAADDDD” echoes through the house.

Let’s turn the tables on them. If you’ve got a few moments when the kids are occupied (maybe napping if they’re still giving you this blessed downtime), sneak in a run.

I’ve mentioned before, family fitness is a combo of doing things together and creative supplementation for the adults.  Here’s a supplementation part. When your little ones nap, get a few speedy intervals in. Get on the treadmill and do 5 two-minute sprints with one-minute rest intervals. That’s only 15 minutes and you still can get some housework in or even nap a little yourself!

This may seem kind of like the traditional Run. But there’s a difference. No need to slog it out for ½ an hour or more. Don’t sacrifice all your precious naptime/free time with running. By doing short sprints you can cut your time on the treadmill and get the same results.

4.    Don’t run indoors!

I’ll stick with no running in the hallways – ours are pretty narrow and inevitably someone’s sock or shoe or book on the floor is just waiting to trip someone up.  But kids have a point. Who says you need to go outdoors to run – or even on a treadmill. I often grab a few minutes and just run in place getting my knees as high as possible. Football players do it. Boxers do it. Why not parents?

5.    Let’s play!

There are literally a million and one versions of simple games that get you running. From soccer to tag to kickball to duck duck goose.  Play them and get moving. Our kids’ favorite was nothing more complicated than a simple game of tag. It’s amazing how soon you’ll be panting after a few sprints around the yard.

Other Sneaky Ways To Run

Okay, sometimes you have to be an adult about it. So here are a few more adult-like ideas for sneaking in a run.

1.    Beat the crowd.

Okay, this still harkens back to the official Run philosophy. But it’s an important addition when you’re trying to get more running into your day. And it only takes 10-15 minutes!

Get up just fifteen minutes before everyone and do some short sprints around the yard or even several intervals running in place in your living room.

2.    Use a jogging stroller

When my first was born, my aunt gave us a jogging stroller. It was one of the best baby gifts we ever got!

Nothing can take away the extra weight you’re pushing when you run. But a good jogging stroller can minimize the added effort – a stable design, lightweight, nice handlebars, a good braking system. You can put in a lot of miles with these.

3.    Bike and run

To even up the pace a bit, if your child has reached biking age, have them bike while you run. There’s a nice window of time before they are ready for long bike rides when their pace on a bike works perfectly with your pace on foot.

And even if the pace isn’t an exact match, if you apply interval training you’ll work together well. If your child is biking with training wheels or likes putting on some speed, make a deal. Set periodic goal posts and say, let’s sprint to that tree or to that mailbox and then we’ll go slower.  They can take their time getting there or speed up and wait and you’ll both get your movement in.

4.    Family Run

Even when your kids are a lot smaller you can get a nice run by running together. Try family running.

Despite their shorter legs, kids often have much more energy than we adults do. And remember, they’re moving around much less weight. They can often keep up a pretty good pace.

A friend of ours who is a regular runner was amazed at the pace her 6 year old kept up when she joined her one morning after doing track practice for a few weeks.

Nonetheless, a few strategies can help you all enjoy the run and get a good workout. You can find out more about family running ideas here.

If your Run in the morning is your time alone for quiet thinking, I can’t replace that with these ideas. But I want you to be assured, you can just take off running – even if you’re an adult.  And it doesn’t have to be in the form of an official Run to count.

Try these strategies out and let me know how they work. Better yet, if you’ve found some other sneaky ways to get running, please use the comments below to share them. We could all use some new ideas!

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Today was a day of tough love. A stern talk between my husband and our daughter about challenging yourself. A renewed intensity in practicing soccer moves.  A soccer game in the rain.

As you’ll know as you read these Fit Family Together articles, from my perspective, one of the biggest pluses of family fitness is the wealth of opportunities to offer your children some tough love in a pretty safe and structured setting. This special love is one of the best gifts you can give your kids, strengthening them for life.

The rewards I see in my children’s eyes are priceless.

That being said, it’s important to couple these less tangible prizes with very tangible – often edible – rewards.

Last week we mountain biked through the woods to a community BBQ and swim.

A few days ago, we hiked up our local mountain and spent the day picking (and munching on) blueberries.

We’ve had many a long ski day that ends with the simple luxury of hot cocoa and a Jamaican beef pattie near the woodstove.

Or picking out a much-awaited video rental and enjoying it together as we rest our weary limbs.

These rewards tie up the day’s events in a nice package of satisfaction that makes the next adventure seem that much more appealing.

Every activity doesn’t have to have a reward. In fact, you do your family fitness endeavor harm if you make this a pattern. Then the rewards take over. And it’s hard to develop other means of motivation.

Nonetheless, they bring that special seasoning that can add to your family’s enjoyment of doing activities together.

As you plan your family fitness ventures, what kind of rewards do you plan into them?

-    Is it a canoe ride to a special spot on the lake where the kids love to jump off the rocks?
-    Is it a walk to a community concert outdoors?
-    Is it spending the day picking peaches so you can make homemade peach pie or frozen yogurt?
-    Is it sitting with them when you tuck them into bed and giggling over the day’s funny moves as you learned a new activity?

Share with us all your special family fitness adventure “desserts” so we can add to our repertoire.

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It was 97 degrees in the scant shade. Yet despite the sweltering heat, my two children were running as fast as they could.

Over and over again.

They were competing in the all day-long Hershey’s regional track meet.

Needless to say, the topic of kids and hydration was big on my mind.

It was rough.  But we used some good tactics and my daughter moved onto State’s the next day for the 100 m dash where she placed in second despite the ongoing heat.

Key to them making it through this day was making sure they got enough water inside of them to replace all the water pouring out of their bodies as they exerted themelves.

The Inside Story On Why Hydration Matters

Staying well hydrated is essential for beating the heat.

Remember, we’re essentially 2/3 water.  All the processes in our body depend on having enough water.

• Our major transportation system that carries around hormone signals, our immune cells and nutrients for our cells – the blood – depends on having enough liquid in our system to work effectively.
• Our cells are mostly composed of water and many of the chemical reactions in our body even require water to work.
• Water is also essential for digestion and waste removal.  Without enough, our body can’t make use of nutrients or get rid of toxins.
• Finally water helps us beat the heat by providing relief – sweat is our natural cooling system and without enough water we can’t do this effectively either.

Which brings us right back to the start of our discussion . . .

When you sweat a lot trying to stay cool and get rid of the heat building up inside of you because of all the energy you’re burning, you need to replace the water you just sweated out.

Finally, when we lose water through sweat we also lose precious minerals dissolved in our sweat – magnesium, sodium, and potassium. Our body uses these minerals for everything from keeping your heart beating to the right rhythm to keeping our muscles and nerves relaxed to building bones.

What Happens Without Hydration

Without adequate hydration, our kids (and us) end up with headaches, muscle cramps, lethargy and just feeling plain irritable and cranky.

More severe cases can lead to shock and require medical attention.

Kids are more susceptible to dehydration because they have higher turnover of liquids and electrolytes due to higher metabolisms.

So here are some things to keep in mind with kids and hydration:

Kids And Hydration Tip #1: Don’t Wait To Be Thirsty

We’re usually dehydrated before we feel thirsty.

So it’s important to make hydration a routine with your kids, not only based on how they feel.  On really hot days, set a timer for an hour and make sure everyone gets a drink each hour.  Give one of your children the official job of being the water chief for the day and reminding everyone to drink water regularly.

Basically, take on the job of reminding your kids to drink.  They won’t drink enough instinctively so don’t wait for the thirst signal to stay hydrated.

One way to keep track if you’re drinking enough is to monitor your pee.  If your pee is dark yellow and you’re not peeing that much and you’re probably not getting enough liquid in.

Fascinated with all things potty-related, little kids can really get into giving a pee report and looking at it with you. Then, if you collectively decide it could be a little lighter, go get a drink together!

Kids And Hydration Tip #2: Drink Before You Snack

In our snack-oriented culture, we often confuse hunger with thirst.

Often when your kids want a snack, they actually may really need a drink instead.  Keep track of how they’re snacking. And when they ask for a snack, suggest a drink instead.  Or offer it first and then see if they’re still hungry.

Kids And Hydration Tip #3: Cut Out The Sweets

Too often kids hydrate with sweet liquids.

So along with increasing hydration with the heat, we end up increasing their sugar-intake.

First of all, start encouraging water as a way to wet your whistle.  Water can taste wonderful when you’re really thirsty – It’s a great time to develop a taste for it.

But to ease the transition, add a squeeze of lemon, lime or orange.  Or even simply water down drinks with water, shifting their taste buds away from the super sweet.

One of our favorite ways to hydrate is ice tea made with Celestial Seasonings fruit zinger teas (Berry Zinger, Raspberry Zinger, Tangerine Zinger, Lemon Zinger).  We just leave a half-gallon glass jar with two teabags in it out to stew on the porch in the sun.

At this point we’re used to drinking it straight, but it’s a great way to water down fruit juices. Or mix in a touch of  sweetener. You can give your children great fruity drink kids will enjoy without the sugar.

Kids And Hydration Tip #4: Replace Electrolytes

Hydration is also a means for replacing electrolytes – minerals like sodium, potassium and magnesium that are essential for nerve and muscle function.  These minerals dissolve well in water and they are the first to go when you sweat a lot. So it makes sense if you’re losing these minerals to get them back inside of you when you take in some water.

Now sometimes, people go overboard, downing the Gatorade when they haven’t sweated that much.  This puts too much salt in your body, not to mention the sugar. (And who knows what those neon color additives do inside of you!)

On the other hand, too much water without electrolyte replacement can lead to hyponatremia, a condition marked by not enough sodium in the body fluids outside that surrounds the cells.

Signs of hyponatremia are headaches, confusion, fatigue, convulsions, cramps, nausea. In extreme cases it can be fatal.

Again, many of the electrolyte replacement drinks mean more sugar, too.  You can make your own and reduce the sugar by combining:

1/2 tsp.table salt (NaCl); 1/2 tsp. salt substitute (KCl); 1/2 tsp. baking soda; 2 T table sugar; 1 Qt tap water.

(Thanks to Clearing My Empty Nest blog)

You can use the fruit ice tea I mentioned above to make this.

Like any electrolyte-replacement drink, this is not for chugging down. It’s only needed when you’ve been losing a lot of fluids (and electrolytes) by sweating a lot.

A favorite electrolyte-replacement drink of mine is nuun (the company, nuun, keeps everything in lower case, hence the lack of capitals).

Nuun is an incredibly clever and good electrolyte replacement drink.

It’s simply a tablet that you add to your water bottle.  Just wait a couple minutes while the effervescent tablets dissolve and then drink.  Nuun replaces electrolytes and gives your formerly plain water a slightly sweet fruity flavor. And it’s completely safe for children.  Just make sure you use it when you need to replace electrolytes, not otherwise.

Hint: Be sure and leave water bottle caps off or mouthpiece open for a few minutes as it dissolves so that the gas from the effervescence can escape.

Nuun is packed in waterproof little tubes so you can carry them along on bike trips and hikes to easily get your electrolytes by just adding water. I know some serious mountaineers also make use of this smart packaging.

Nuun is a great minimally sweetened replacement for Gatorade, Powerade, etc.

Kids And Hydration Tip #5: Make It Easy On You

While nuun is great, I was even more thrilled with the discovery of using Camelbak waterpacks when I took my little ones to the playground.  Camelbaks are specialized small backpacks with a bag inside for water and a tube that stretches out to hook onto the shoulder strap. The tube ends with a moutpiece you simply bite down on gently in order to get your gulp of liquid.

Look Ma! No hands!

With a camelbak, I always had my hands free while I monitored my kids as they climbed jumped and swung around the playground equipment.  I never had to keep track of water bottles or worry that they got knocked over into the dirt and the mouth would get dirty.  Whenever anyone needed a drink, I simply unhooked the tube and they could slurp away.

As the years have gone by, we always use camelbaks for long hikes or when the we go as a family on a bike ride. They can hold an enormous amount of liquid. They keep it cooler because of the insulation most packs have. And they are – again- right on hand without any fuss.

You can get camelbaks in all shapes and sizes. Some are elaborate backpacks with all kinds of extra pockets. Others are more streamlined. And they now make kid-sized camelbaks as well.

Kids And Hydration Tip #6: Minimize Toxins

Water is what we use to clean ourselves from the inside out. So why bring in extra junk with each sip of water. Now, I’m not a purist on this. I have great faith in our bodies’ ability to get rid of toxins. And it’s sometimes hard to verify the quality of the water you’re drinking. If we need some water and there’s a faucet nearby, I’ll take it.

But why add to the toxic burden you’re body’s already dealing with?

There are some standards you can shoot for. At home we use a distiller to make our water pure. We have an arsenic problem with our well and it’s been the best solution we could find for it. Additionally, a distiller ensures that we’re not missing chemicals filters aren’t designed to catch or that aren’t even detected by standard water tests.

We’re currently looking into an additional arsenic-removal system but sometimes in a pinch we have to rely on bottled water which also brings us face to face with the hormone-disrupting chemical bisphenol-A. Bisphenol-A is found in many plastics and can leach into food from the plastic.

For this reason, I highly recommend using bisphenol-A-free plastic water bottles or aluminum ones. Companies like Platypus and Camelbak are making bisphenol-A free bags so you can feel comfortable about using plastic water containers.

Kids And Hydration Tip #7: Keep It Cold

Now I’m one who can take room temp water – even on a hot day.

And temperature isn’t an essential criteria for hydration. If you’re losing liquid, even warm water will make a difference.

But truly there is nothing so good as a little chill with your water.  And when it comes to health and safety, a little chill can help you stave off heat exhaustion.

For this reason, we usually put ice in our water bottles. Or – if we’re really ahead of the game – we’ll fill them a couple of hours before we go out on our activity and stick them in the freezer. (The platypus bags can be frozen)

If it’s super hot. Or if ease of movement isn’t such a premium, I always bring a nice thermos or two filled with icey liquid.

Kids And Hydration Tip #8: Hydrate In The Cold

It’s hard to keep this in mind right now in July, but you need to keep hydration part of your action plan even when it’s cold out. If you’re active, you’re perspiring. And with the increase metabolizing, your body is using more water to flush waste products out to your bladder. So even on the snowy ski slopes, make sure you keep your children and you well-hydrated.

Got any hydration tips to share? We’d love to hear them. Please share below in the comments.

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Last week we dove into swimming games . . . and boy, are those essential when summer hits.

But some days you can’t get to the local waterhole.

Nothing is more miserable than feeling dry as a desert when the temp gets in the high 80′s and beyond.

However, just because you can’t get to a pool doesn’t mean you can’t stay cool while you get active. Just add some water form a hose or sink or even a water bottle.

If you’ve got some outdoor space and a little portable water, you’re gonna’ love these 5 games to play with water.

And don’t be dismayed if you don’t have a back yard. Some of these can even be played at a park with a water fountain or spigot nearby.

Games To Play With Water #1: Dunk Dunk Goose

Everyone knows Duck Duck Goose – right? How about Dunk Dunk Goose?

This is played almost the same way as Duck Duck Goose – with a little splash of water added to it.  Everyone sits in a circle and the person who is It has a cup of water. It walks around the circle saying “Dunk, Dunk . . . ” touching each person’s head as they move around. When they get to the person they are going to designate as Goose, they not only say “Goose” but they also spill the cup of water over the person’s head.

The “Goose” jumps up and chases It around the circle. If the pursuer can tag It before he or she sits down in their spot, then the person who was It sits in the middle of the circle and doesn’t get to come out until someone replaces them. The Goose then becomes It. Refill the cup of water and start over.

Note: Make sure you use a simple paper or light plastic cup since you don’t want a hard cup that will hurt when it gets tossed or dropped in the heat of the game.

Games To Play With Water #2: Squirt Gun Relay

Nothing like a race to make you want to cool off with a squirt gun shoot off!

Two teams line up side by side. Make a finish line at your chosen length away and place two squirt guns at this point, filled with water.

When the race starts, the two competitors have to race to the finish line, do a designated set of calisthenics (10 jumping jacks, 20 situps, 10 pushups, etc.) and then as soon as they are done they can grab the squirt gun and squirt their competitor before racing back.

Games To Play With Water #3: Wet Sponge Toss

Housecleaning will never be the same after this game with sponges . . .
Get a (nice and clean!) big sponge and a couple buckets of water. Dunk the sponge in the bucket and then toss it to your partner. After each successful toss (and delicious splash) take a step back and try for a longer distance.

To get really complicated, you can get two sponges going at once so you have to coordinate throwing and catching.

Games To Play With Water #4: Cool-It-Off Tag

My kids loved this game that really was simply a spontaneous chase-me game.  If you have a little wading pool, make it base. Now, play the game of tag just like you always did except that now to get away from It, the kids can jump into the wading pool and sit there giggling as you lurk around the perimeter.

Just be a little cautious – if the wading pool’s bottom is too slippery and the action gets too rambunctious, you may need to call this one off since a jump into the pool can turn into a slip.

Games To Play With Water #5: Hose Limbo

You’ve probably played limbo before or seen it with a broom handle or stick.  This time, instead of a broom, hold the hose so that the water is squirting straight across.

And then one at a time, the participants try to get under the hose by arching their back, bending their knees and walking under the hose without hitting the water spray.

You cannot twist to the side or crawl on the ground. Only by arching your back, leaning backwards and bending your knees can you get to the other side successfully.

With each round the stream of water is lowered slightly. The winner is the person who can get under the lowest level.

Beat The Heat By Playing With Water

In addition to these games, nothing beats these simple fun ways to cool down and move with water:

·    Running through a simple sprinkler
·    Grabbing the hose and moving it sharply back and forth so the water winds around in the air like a snake.
·    Several hot hot days, we lined up a few old tarps on a slope and placed a hose just to the edge for a nice slippy slide.
·    Or simply get a bunch of squirt guns and chase each other down.

Sometimes you can’t make it to a swimming spot and the heat is just turning you into a wad of glue – stuck on the couch, chair or anywhere you can rest. Moving around and getting some activity is the last thing you can imagine doing.

However, you can beat the heat and inertia with these fun games to play with water.

Enjoy! Have any games to add to the list? Share them with us all?

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I love swimming. When I was little I stayed in the water until my lips turned blue. I used to imagine I was a mermaid and dreamed I could stay in that magical world below the surface forever.

My mermaid swimming games transformed the pond into my otherworldly playground.

As an adult, however, I lost that sense of fun and fantasy when I swam. In college, every evening, I would trudge up to the gym to put in my hour’s worth of laps.  Back and forth. Back and forth.

Swimming – while still my fitness activity of choice – had started turning into drudgery.

My kids changed all that. With kids in the picture, first of all, it was hard to do laps or long swims. I had kids to watch.

But even more importantly, I started to regain my sense of fun in the water.  I still don’t play swimming games as well as my kids do. But when I do, I find that I can get a great workout – while we have fun together.

So here’s a growing list of fun swimming games to try out with your children. It’s written with two basic age groups in mind – little fishes who are still mostly splashing and then those who have gotten their fins under them and are ready to cruise through the water.

Fun Swimming Games For The Littlest Ones

Seamonster: Lurk at the edge of the water, just deep enough where you can touch the bottom with your hands and let your feet drift behind you.  You are the seamonster, with seaweed dripping from your jaw.

The object of the game is for the children to not get caught by the seamonster. You, the seamonster, can only use your hands to move yourself around. But don’t worry, like any patient predator, you know your prey can’t help but tempt fate. Your toddlers will squeal with delight as they run in and out of the water.  And you’ll get a good little workout pulling yourself around by your arms.

Bucking Bronco: You, the parent, are the bucking bronco. And your child is the stubborn cowboy who won’t be moved.  Squat down so that they can climb on your back, holding on piggy back style and hold on tight.  They’ll need to hold you around your neck and wrap their legs around your waist.

Jump around. Spin. Take shallow dives. Move around through the water adjusting the moves to your child’s strength and comfort in the water. And your strength. As my kids got older, my husband (the bronco) would make his dives deeper and longer so they had to hold their breath and cling on hard.

If the fierce cowboy on your back can tire out the bull (you!), they’ve won. If their grip loosens and they fall, the water is there to catch them.

Unfortunately for the bull, they’ll probably be begging for another ride.

Bobbing Together: This is for children who are comfortable going under the water. Stand together where it’s about chest deep for them – you stand on the deeper side. Hold hands. Then – start slow – one of you goes down under and then springs up into a jump. As you jump up, your child squats down and goes under. When they spring up, you go down. Soon you’ll be pumping up and down like a couple of pistons in an engine.

It’s a simple motion, but kids get great delight out of it.

You can do this with kids who are ready to go over their head as well. Start off with one person going down and then sending themselves upward with one good frog kick. As they start to go up, the other goes down. Even without touching the bottom you can get a good rhythm going as you push off of each other’s upward or downward momentum.

Swimming Games For Big Kids

These games appeal to a larger age range and can be tweaked for different swimming abilities.

Underwater Tea Party: Stand together and then count one two three and go down under and try to stay under the water as you act out pouring tea, stirring it, eating and doing different tea party activities. See how long you can stay under.

Variations: Don’t just stick with tea parties. Before you go under, agree to other activities you’ll act out. Like building a house (measure things, saw the wood, hammer in the nails) or cooking a meal.

Alternatively, turn it into a version of charades where you try to guess what the other is acting out underwater.

Bulldozer: It’s amazing how appealing a rock can be underwater. My kids have spent hours with their friends moving rocks from one place to another underwater and building piles with them.  Occasionally they’ve enlisted my help – and it’s tough work!  If you’re swimming in a lake or pond, this can be a great task that can even spread out over days and weeks. (I’ve known some rock piles to be under construction all summer long)

If you’re swimming in a pool, put together a number of objects to collect – diving rings or other weighted objects and toss them into the pool. Have your children work on collecting them all by not only diving, but bringing them over to one spot. And join them in the enterprise.

Underwater Tunnel: This was one of our favorites when the kids were getting comfortable swimming underwater.  Everyone lines up in a row, standing front to back. Spread your legs out in a wide straddle.  Now the person in the back has to dive down and swim through everyone’s legs.  Once they have successfully gotten through, they take their place at the front of the line with their legs apart and the last person then proceeds to swim through.

Littler guys may have to jump up a little when the parents swim through.  You can make this more challenging by spreading out the space between all of you.

Sharks and Minnows: This works best in a restricted area like a pool, but you can set it up with boundaries in a more natural setting.  Depending on the number of people playing you can have 1 or more people in the middle who are the sharks.  The others are the minnows, safe only when they are touching the pool wall or beyond the safety boundary you established if you’re not playing in a pool. When the shark says “Go” all the minnows need to swim to the other side without getting caught by the shark.

Depending on the number of people playing, the minnows who are caught can either join the sharks or take over from them.

For non-swimmers, you can play this where it’s shallow enough to run. You all still get a good workout and they can run and dive and jump while enjoying the game. If you have a mixed group, have the littler ones try to get across where it’s shallower while the older kids swim across in the deeper end. (More work for the shark).

Marco Polo: Another classic swimming game, Marco Polo can be played in a pool or pond setting, but you need some boundaries established, including establishing the rule that no one can get out of the water.  One person is Marco. Marco’s objective is to tag someone else.

However, there is a hitch. Marco needs to keep his or her eyes closed. The old marine technique of echolocation is their only means of locating the rest of the players. Whenever Marco yells, “Marco” everyone has to yell back “Polo”.  Marco has to find his or her quarry by sound.  Once Marco tags someone, they then become Marco.

Marines: My son and his friends love this game.  It takes tag under water and adds a twist. One person is It and their objective is to tag the other people on the back by tapping them twice. Now you can try a frontal attack, but it’s pretty easy for the person eluding you to turn their back away from you. So stealthiness is the key.

Once you’re tagged, you become It.

A Few Other Fun Swimming Activities

• Play catch while treading water. Or even when standing. Just running a bit to catch the ball with the resistance of the water makes it more of a challenge. And you can really dive for the ball with lots of drama with the watery cushion under you! Bring a soft Nerf football, a cloth frisbee or tennis ball for the game.

• Do contests: A diving contest. Or who can tread water the longest. Or do an underwater handstand the longest. Or who can do the most underwater somersaults in a row.

• Have a bucket relay. Make two big holes about the same size on the beach about equidistant from the water and see which team can fill them up fastest with water from the shore. Alternatively, put 2 large buckets on the beach and give each team a small cup to fill it with.

• Have a good old splash fight. Chase each other down by any stroke necessary or simply run after each other in the water. And – most importantly – splash away.  If you have little ones, each parent can take one piggy-back or hold them and chase each other down. My son loved going after his sister this way in our arms when he could barely walk . . . He could still splash furiously.

Enjoy the water in a whole new way with these games. What ideas or games do you have to add to the pool?

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It’s July 4th and usually we think of this in as a celebration in the political realm – The day when not just the U.S. – but this whole world - started moving towards democracy.

Yet it is also a very personal day of celebration. I realized this when I read the Declaration of Independence with my children a couple of days ago.  There’s a line that stuck out to me and I knew I had to share it with you:

And accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.

- The Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776

This one line in the Declaration of Independence has stuck with me for the last two days because it touched on one of the biggest barriers we face to fully enjoying life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness - ourselves.

Essentially, the founding fathers noted that the human tendency is to be complacent, putting up with all kinds of terrible situations because we like to stick with what we’re familiar with.

And I am as guilty of this as anyone. I don’t have enough fingers to count all the ways I have let complacency lead me down the path of problems and misery . . . And how many times I’ve seen the need to change things but not made the change.

I thought that when I read this historical document I’d be thinking about world events and governments.

But instead, it made me think of how many times in my life I have continued doing things that have undermined my health, my relationships, my economic security and more. Simply because I was afraid of change or didn’t feel like I had the energy to try something different.

It made me look hard at how easily I want to look for reasons outside of myself why I’m not changing things and place the blame there. Sure they’re there – but are they really as powerful as I think they are? Or let them become?

It made me reflect on heroes I look to like Team Hoyt, the father and son triathlon team. People who make all the reasons I use to explain why I don’t do things look insignificant.

(You’ve got to visit their website – prepare to be absolutely amazed and inspired! They bring family fitness to a whole other level!)

And it made me look hard at what challenges I support my children in taking on. It may be hard now to push them to get their homework done well, or go a little farther on the bike or show them (for the 10th time!) how to do a chore. And sometimes I give up.  But often enough I catch myself because I know in the long run doing these things will give them more options as they get older – and more freedom.

When I think about who these men were who wrote the Declaration of Independence, one of the things that struck me is that they were people who had to battle hard internally with their own doubts, comforts and complacency.

It would have been so easy in many ways to keep going with what the rest of the world was doing around them. It would have been easy and acceptable in many ways to bow out once they tried a few challenges and then decided it was just too much to take on. Too much going against the flow.

I’ve read John Adams’ correspondence with his wife Abigail and how they both continually had to remind each other of their goals and spur each other to keep going.

So when it comes to your own personal goals and challenges, look hard at the barriers you’re putting up to getting through them.

What have you decided to put up with because you’ve gotten accustomed to it? What are you afraid of trying to change?

And looking to the beautiful, strong partnership of John and Abigail Adams that helped move a whole country towards democracy – who can you enlist to help you keep forging ahead? How can your spouse and your children help you keep your eyes on the prize?

Enjoy today’s celebration – even if you’re not in the U.S. since it’s a political win for everyone!  But also take a moment to reflect on what could be your own personal declaration of independence.

Make one right here in the comments section or come share on Facebook.

Happy Independence Day!

This post is part of the Your Healthy Home Biz. YHHB gives home business owners specific strategies, tips and inspiration for running your home business without running yourself into the ground.  To get weekly tips sent right to your inbox plus the invaluable but free guide “The Easy Way To Sneak Exercise Into Your Workday And Get More Done” sign up at www.yourhealthyhomebiz.com.

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It’s a regular part of our summer bedtime routine – my two kids sitting cross-legged on the floor, heads bent forward while I meticulously search through their thick, black locks for ticks.

While this routine may seem a little tedious at times, it’s one of the ways I make sure they don’t get one of the growing health threats associated with spending time outdoors – Lyme disease.

How can you get Lyme disease? And how do you prevent it?

These are two questions any parent who wants to enjoy the outdoors safely should have in mind.

Keep reading, because I’m going to share with you 5 ways to prevent getting this fearsome health problem without the use of harmful chemicals. I use these methods consistently to keep me and my family safe from the threat of Lyme disease.

Lyme Disease Is No Joke!

Recent news about Lyme Disease reminds me that this vigilance is well-founded – Lyme disease has caused an estimated 20,000 infections in the US each year.

The highest concentration of cases are found in the northeastern US and the Great Lakes area. But it is creeping west of the Mississippi and has taken a pretty solid foothold on the west coast as well. You can look at this map of where Lyme disease cases have been reported to assess how high your risk is based on where you live.

What To Expect If You Get Lyme Disease

The first step to preventing Lyme disease is to understand its impact. The more you understand how debilitating this disease can be, the more you’ll take preventative measures seriously.

Lyme disease is nothing to take lightly. If caught early, a 2-week round of antibiotics can effectively eliminate it from your body. But if you miss the infection’s first stages, it can develop into chronic pain and serious health problems. Intravenous antibiotics are then necessary.

As the disease progresses, it can lead to complications in the nervous system, heart, and joints.

The damage caused by this disease can lead to chronic pain, sleep problems, fatigue, difficulties concentrating and more.

And even after the disease is gone, the damage done continues to plague people with something that may be an autoimmune disorder called Post-Lyme Syndrome for which there is no conventional cure.

You can usually – but not always – spot an infection by looking for the following symptoms:

· A red, circular, expanding rash around the bite
· Fever
· Headache
· Fatigue
· Stiff neck
· Muscle and/or joint pain.

These symptoms usually begin within 30 days of being bitten by a tick.

However, because these symptoms are often similar to other health problems, doctors also use blood tests to verify infection. But even these tests yield both false-positives and false-negatives, adding to the challenge of accurately diagnosing Lyme.

So not only is Lyme disease tough on your body, but it’s difficult to identify in order to secure the best treatment. Consequently – as with most health concerns – prevention is the best cure.

So How Can You Get Lyme Disease?

The second important step for preventing infection is to know how you get Lyme disease.

A bacteria, Borrelia burgdorferi, causes the disease.

Its accomplice is the black-legged tick, also known as the deer tick.  The deer tick transports this disease from warm body to warm body with its bites. When a tick latches onto an infected animal, usually a deer or mouse, it takes in the bacteria with the animal’s blood as it feeds.

The tick, now a carrier, then waits on a tall blade of grass or in the leaf litter to jump onto another warm-blooded creature passing through and latch on.

So when you go outside to explore the woods, saunter through a field, or simply fetch an errant ball that’s rolled into the long grass at the side of the nicely trimmed lawn, you might be putting yourself right in the tick’s path.

Often we think this is more of a summer threat, but that’s actually a myth. These ticks have a two-year life cycle and are active early spring into late fall. In fact the adults are most active in October-November, according to University of New Hampshire entymologist, Alan Eaton.

I remember spending one blissful October afternoon on a Maine hillside with some friends and their kids only to find more ticks than I’d ever seen marching through my children’s hair that afternoon.

But before you panic and decide to write off outdoor adventuring because of this threat, take note:

1. With a little bit of strategy you can prevent ticks from having access to you and your children’s bodies.

2. Vigilance pays off. It can take as much as 36 hours for the bacteria to be transferred into your body. So the quicker you locate and remove a tick, the more likely you’ll avoid infection. In fact, according to the National Library of Medicine, most people bitten by ticks do not get Lyme disease. Most likely because by removing the tick early, you can prevent infection.

So here are my tips for making sure you don’t get Lyme disease:

Tip#1  So You Don’t Get Lyme Disease: Make Your Yard Inhospitable To Ticks

Make your yard tick-unfriendly. Deer ticks love leaves, detritus and long grass. Keep your grass short. And clear brush away from frequently used areas. And by the way, free-ranging poultry, especially chickens and guinea fowl, make great tick patrols. I love watching are chickens as they form a long dragnet while they sweep the yard. I know nothing will survive their scrutiny!

Tip #2 So You Don’t Get Lyme Disease: Use Physical Barriers

When you do venture into tick territory – less manicured areas and woods – prevent them from getting to your skin: Wear long pants, tucked into your socks and tuck your shirt into your waist as well.

I know, it looks kind of dorky. But when you think about the problems you’re avoiding, it’s not so bad!

Tip #3 So You Don’t Get Lyme Disease: Use Natural Repellents

Conventional recommendations include spraying 20-50% DEET on clothing and skin or treat your clothing with permethrin (not for skin!). However, DEET has been associated with neurological problems (Gulf War Syndrome). Studies have shown that DEET may be a carcinogen and an endocrine disruptor.

Fortunately, nature has provided some good alternatives:

• Wild Tomato Ever notice the strong odor from tomato plants? Well ticks do. Researchers at North Carolina University have found a compound found in wild tomatoes to be more effective than DEET in repelling ticks. It’s EPA approved and you can find this compound in BioUD insect repellent formulas. The label states that this will repel ticks for 2 hours.

• Geraniol Geraniol is a compound identified by researchers at the University of Florida as more effective than DEET in repelling ticks. Says researcher, Jerry Butler, “[Geraniol] is in lemongrass; it’s in lots of plants. We even make a little of it ourselves.” It is being extracted from grasses to produce repellents. Rose geranium oil, a popular herbal repellent against ticks, contains this compound as well.

We’ve actually done experiments using geraniol with captured ticks. First we watched it crawl quickly towards the warmth of my foot. Then we placed rose geranium oil in its way. It immediately turned around and went the other way. Wherever we put this essential oil, it would turn on a dime and go in the other direction.

• Piparidin Piparidin, an extraction from peppers has been approved by the EPA to use against ticks. It has been rated as practically non-toxic to slightly toxic in studies.

• Extracts of garlic and tea tree oil have been found in research to be effective in killing ticks.

• Other botanicals that have shown promise in studies are a species of rhododendron , citronella, cloves, and lily of the valley

You may need to be more diligent about reapplying these compounds since essential oils often don’t have the staying power of DEET. But given their safety and effectiveness, I’d rather use these than a potential neurotoxin and carcinogen.

Tip #3 So You Don’t Get Lyme Disease: Brush Off

For years we had a sign on our front door that I hope too many visitors didn’t take personally, “Brush Off”. It was a reminder to us all to do our best to get an unwanted hitchhiker off of us when we came in from the outdoors.

Here’s what I mean by “brush off”. Starting with your head use your hands to brush away at your hair, neck, armpits, arms, groin, legs and finally feet. It’s not necessarily foolproof since a tick that has latched on will not be so easily removed. But it will help dislodge many of the ticks that have gotten through our defenses. A couple times we’ve seen one drop and start crawling away.

If you have pets that accompany you outside, make sure you give them a good brush off as well.

Hint: We also do this periodically when we’re roaming around outdoors.

Tip #4  So You Don’t Get Lyme Disease: Shower

Yale researchers have found that people who take showers after spending time outdoors are less likely to contract Lyme disease.

It’s pretty obvious why. An extension of the brush off, by scrub-a-dubbing you are likely to wash ticks down the drain. Make sure you shampoo and give yourself a nice scalp massage. As well as thoroughly scrub groin and armpits (where ticks like to hide) as well.

Tip #5 So You Don’t Get Lyme Disease: Tick Check

Finally, perform a thorough tick check. Use extra care when looking around the scalp, behind the ears, in the armpits and groin. These are ticks’ favorite hiding spots.

This is important: The ticks you’re looking for are extremely tiny – no bigger than a poppy seed – and dark. Make sure you do this in a well-lighted area. My husband has pretty dark skin so I often shine a flashlight directly on his scalp as I look to make things clearer.

If you do find one attached, use a pair of tweezers, grasp the tick as close to the skin as possible and firmly pull it off. Do not use a match, petroleum jelly or nail polish. These methods may only increase the chance that the tick will transfer the bacteria into you. Clean the bite with an antibacterial agent like Neosporin or tea-tree oil, after removal.

Quick detection and removal is key. If you remove the tick within the first 36 hours, your chance of infection is extremely small. However remain vigilant for any symptoms since early diagnosis can mean a better chance for a full and speedy recovery.

Finally keep the tick in a bottle. If any signs of infection develop you can bring it with you to the doctors, test it for the bacteria and more easily verify whether you have an infection.

Now You’ve Got The Info You Need To Stay Safe!

Now you know how you can get Lyme disease, what it is and what you can do to prevent it. Put these tactics to work and you’ll dramatically lower your family’s risk of getting this disease.

Got questions or comments? Leave them here so we can build on this information

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