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The Editor's Desk - From Beneath the Clutter
Feature Article - Romantic Evenings on a Budget
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Guest Article - 10 Tips for Making Daily Physical Activity Part of Your Child’s Life!
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Valentine's Day approaches! Are you ready yet?
My husband is not a fan of Valentine's Day, so things are always pretty low key around here. That's fine, since it's something we've discussed, so it doesn't come as a shock. My husband has been scolded by coworkers for not doing much for Valentine's Day, but I know he cares and it's so much fun when he surprises me because he wants to do so, not because the calendar says to.
I have warned him, however, that as our daughter gets old enough, he needs to let her enjoy the holiday.
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When money is tight, it can be hard to enjoy those important days, such as Valentine’s Day, anniversaries, birthdays… but keeping the romance alive in a relationship is both fun and beneficial to the relationship.
If you have children, however, it can be quite difficult to have an inexpensive evening out. Babysitters aren’t cheap, after all. But there are things you can do.
If you really want an evening out, try exchanging babysitting with someone else or having a family member help you. Exchanges are a great way of getting time away from the kids, and all you have to do in return is watch someone else’s kids another time. If the children are of similar ages, they may well entertain each other.
Romantic dinners at beautiful restaurants are wonderful, but they don’t always fit in the budge. But with a little planning you can create that romantic ambiance somewhere else. Plan a picnic at a favorite beach or park. Don’t just grab something quick from the deli, plan a favorite yet easy meal. Bring flowers, even if they just come from the garden or wildflowers you’ve found. What about using the good dishes – carefully packed, of course.
Take a special drive for a few hours. Go someplace you don’t often go. Drive to the mountains, to the coast, just enjoy being with each other even if you don’t have a goal in mind. And talk about whatever comes to mind.
If you can’t get away from home, plan for romance when the kids are in bed. Candles and flowers in the bedroom are always nice. Pull out some photos from some of the most special moments you have shared together and enjoy the memories. Perhaps a little champagne would be nice. Share some massage and let the evening go as it will.
Can you write? No? Try anyhow. Tell the one you love just how much they mean to you in writing. You may need a lot of time for this one, but it’s something that will be treasured forever. It can be a poem, a letter, whatever works best for you to let your feelings out.
Sound like too much? How about love notes left around the house? Make a game of hiding them and have your partner find them. For a little extra fun, have one or two that shouldn’t be found for a few more days yet, just as a reminder of the hunt for the rest.
Romance is possible on any budget. It may not feel that way when the bills are overdue and the kids need your attention, but there are always ways to bring a little fun and romance into your life.
Stephanie Foster is the owner of Home with the Kids, a resource that knows that there's more to staying home with your family than just business. For more stay at home tips, visit the site at http://www.homewiththekids.com/ and subscribe to the free newsletter.
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Here’s some of the bad news about sedentary lifestyles:
• Forty percent of children ages 5 to 8 show at least one heart disease risk factor, including hypertension and obesity, which among children has doubled over the past two decades.
• The first signs of arteriosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) are appearing at age 5 – something never before seen in anyone under the age of 30.
• Children 6 to 10 are dying of sudden cardiopulmonary arrest.
• According to a recent Centers for Disease Control study, American children born in 2000 face a one-in-three chance of developing Type 2 diabetes – what used to be called adult-onset diabetes!
• This is thought to be the first generation of children that won’t outlive their parents.
The good news is that it doesn’t take much to turn things around. We just have to make sure our kids are physically active! Following are some tips for making that happen:
1. Turn off the TV! Research shows children are being electronically entertained an average of five to six hours a week. Without electronics, they’ll have to find other ways to keep themselves entertained.
2. Encourage your children to engage in active play. Research shows that the children who are most active are those whose parents have encouraged them to be active.
3. Play with your children! Blow bubbles for them to chase, play tag and hide-and-seek, put on an up-tempo song and boogie in the living room, or put on a John Philip Sousa march – or break out the pots and pans – and hold a parade around the house!
4. Serve as a role model, taking part in physical activity – cheerfully – yourself.
5. Take the children to parks, playgrounds, beaches, and on hikes during vacations and weekends – instead of to amusement parks, where they’ll stand in lines and then sit on rides.
6. Don’t send the wrong message about physical activity by endlessly circling the parking lot for the spot closest to the door. Instead, make a game out of parking as far from the door as possible and finding different ways to get to it (walking backward, tiptoeing, jogging, or skipping).
7. When it’s time for gift giving, select items like hula hoops; balls in a variety of shapes, sizes, and textures; roller skates; or a wading pool or swing set. When shopping for games, Twister has more to offer than a board game. And CDs with lively music are a better choice than movie videos.
8. Don’t expect organized sports to take care of your child’s physical activity needs. There’s more waiting than moving in most organized, adult-directed games.
9. Fight to keep physical education and recess in your child’s school – or, if necessary, to get them back! The research shows that, among other things, physical activity contributes to a better attitude toward school and improves academic achievement and test scores!
10. Make sure your child associates physical activity with FUN!
Rae Pica is a children’s physical activity specialist and the author of Your Active Child: How to Boost Physical, Emotional, and Cognitive Development through Age-Appropriate Activity (McGraw-Hill, 2003). Visit her and read more articles at www.movingandlearning.com.
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