Wednesday, February 21, 2007

A Conversation With Emily





Last Night:

Me: I put a dollar in your backpack for tomorrow's jump rope for heart thing.

Emily: Why do I need a dollar? To buy a jump rope?

Me: No, I put your jump rope in your backpack, too. The dollar is to help kids who can't jump rope.


This Morning:

Me: Don't forget to give Ms. Y your dollar.

Emily: Oh, I see, Ms Y's arms don't work.

Me: What?

Emily: That's why she gets the dollar, her arms don't work for jumproping.

Me: No, her arms work, she is just collecting the money.

Emily: Oooooh, Ms. Y wants to get rich!

Me: What?

Emily: That's why she wants all the dollars!

Me: No, she is just getting the money, then she will give it to your PE teacher.

Emily: But his arms work....

**************

Jump Rope for Heart helps support the American Heart Association. They list some reasons for encouraging jumproping:

because more than 9 million children are overweight and 36 percent get no exercise

because for the first time in history, children’s life spans are predicted to be less than their parents because of inactivity and obesity-related illnesses.

because obesity is the fastest growing cause of illness and death in the U.S.


They also list some ways to help children develop healthy habits Here are a few that I need to work on:

Be a positive role model. If you’re practicing healthy habits, it’s a lot easier to convince children to do the same.

Limit TV, video game and computer time.

Don’t reward children with food. Candy and snacks as a reward encourage bad habits. Find other ways to celebrate good behavior.

***************

Food is my favorite reward: ice cream after a big job, a treat at the check out for surviving the grocery store, cookies after dinner chores... What do you use as a reward?

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I wasn't really planning on it, but I think I will jump rope today. Sydney is home sick (fever, cough), and it is raining, so I'm not going to make it on my morning run. I was thinking that I wished I had an exercise video for these kind of days, but maybe I'll go find my jumprope, and one for John, and put on some music.

13 comments:

Lana said...

we have jump rope for heart today too!

Loved your beach pictures!

Donna Boucher said...

I thought there was a scam at school! Didn't you?

Jump rope is fantastic exercise...wear good shoes...I injured my arch jumping on cement ( a lot) in college.

Lana said...

Cranberry Chicken

mix one 8oz bottle of French dressing, one envelope of onion soup mix, and one can of whole berry cranberry sauce.

Pour over your chicken pieces. I use a combo of skinless boneless breasts and skinless boneless thighs but you could do whatever.

Bake 350 for an hour.
It's good served over rice becuase it makes a lot of sauce. We were out of rice last night and went with potatoes instead.


Hope you guys enjoy it!

Suzanne said...

I remember doing the jump roping for the Heart Association in the 8th grade. How fun for Emily!

I'm afraid that I reward with food too. No dessert unless dinner is done and sometimes we also get fun treats at the store if the kids have been good. My two boys are as skinny as rails so I'm not worried. How they're skinny from parents that aren't is a mystery to me... :D

Amanda said...

Emily is so cute! We have jump rope for heart sometime soon, I think I forgot to send money. Ooops....

wendy said...

TXMommy - all together - Cinderella dressed in yellow... Thanks for the recipe, sounds yummy.

Donna - I was a little concerned. I wore my good shoes, and let me tell you, that was a tough work out!

Suzanne - our kids are all skinny minny's too. It's me that has the problem!

Amanda - I don't think I had ever heard of the Jumprope for heart before, how funny that children all over the world are jumping together!

orchard_girl said...

Em is so cute. Our school didn't do it. Although I ate lunch with Abby and Peter, and we tried to find a long jump rope.
Heather

nikko said...

Yikes, I forgot Jump Rope for Heart, too. Oh well.

We went on a bike ride today as a family -- doing my part to combat childhood obesity!!

Anonymous said...

I love the conversation with Emily. Jump rope - good idea. I wonder if I still can. Mom

Mary said...

That is a fun conversation. I like seeing how Em's brain works!

Jumping rope, fun idea for exercise!

Kristine said...

That conversation is classic!

Go Wendy!
It is quite the workout to jump rope.

Unknown said...

LOL! I love living with children. They can be so funny.
My 5 year old came down stairs crying. I asked her if she was hurt, she said no and said,
"My brother's have ruined my life!"
I looked at my husband and said,
"You saw it happen! Right here, right now, she turned into an emotional girl!"

Super Happy Girl said...

Emily could see right thru that little scam.
I'm bad about rewarding with food, do it all the time. I have a drawer full of rewards, I should take a picture some time.
Rope jumping is excellent exercise, kick my behind all the time.