Family workouts

My husband and I both work and so our time with our son is limited on weekdays. He is 3.5 years old, so when you add supper and a bath to the after work mix, bedtime comes pretty quick. The morning rush to get to him to childcare means mornings are a right off. We treasure our weekends and guard our time closely.

All this leads me to the conundrum we have around signing him up for various kinds of classes and sports. I, perhaps selfishly, do not want to spend Saturdays driving him to activities where we once again send him off with other people. I have even read some books that talk about how the lack of time parents spend with their children is a contributing factor in some behavioral issues. These studies say we are losing out on critical bonding time and it undermines our influence on our children as they get older and forces them to turn to their under-qualified peers for guidance because they are more closely bonded with them than us. The constant affirmation of peers provided via social media doesn’t help our cause as they get older and more tuned in to these forms of communication. Anyway, I digress, and whether or not I buy in to all that is a moot point, because right now what I am concerned about is just getting to spend some quality time with my kid.

One of the things we have talked about doing is signing up for things we can all do together as a family. Not all the time of course, he’ll want to do things with his peers, but trying to balance his activities so that there is a nice mix. With this in mind, this Family Surge Class really sparked my interest. Our son is way too young, but I thought I would share it with you guys in case you were looking for a way to get fit with the whole family and spend some quality time together too. I would love to see more stuff like this available. It really solves the problem of trying to get a work out when you have a busy work and home life. No need for sitters or gym-based childcare! It is also a great way to model good health and fitness habits for your kids and show family support for kids struggling with weight issues. If anyone has tried it I would love to hear.

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