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Health & Fitness

My kids are savages!

Recently my wife and I entertained some friends at our house for dinner. Prior to dinner, after having observed my daughters, 4 and 7, playing for an hour or so, one of the friends commented that they were rather "spirited." More like savages I retorted. He approved my less euphemistic adjective with a chuckle and I explained that I would apologize for their raucous behavior, but I can't, I have cultivated it, I am proud of it. I encourage my daughters to run, jump, wrestle, and throw things. You name it, if it involves physical activity, I want them doing it. My mother says that I am raising a couple of boys. But it's not a gender thing, it's about their health. When I see my daughters playing a game of full-contact hide and seek or doing laps around the house while I "time" them, I know it is good for them. Not just in the general sense of that phrase, I KNOW it is good for them. I know that when they are exercising the prefrontal cortex and the hypo campus portions of their brains are stimulated/elevated beyond levels when they are sitting and watching TV, reading, playing with some toys, etc. I know that when they finally calm down their brains are going to be far sharper, with an enhanced ability to absorb information from any medium, book, computer, TV, music or me. Every time my kids sneak a few jumps on the couch or down the last few steps I know my tall lanky 7 year old is strengthening her hips and back and my 4 year old is increasing the intrinsic strength of feet, building up her longitudinal arches. When they hit me in the head with a well thrown toy or wrestle with each other on the ground I know they are strengthening and coordinating the muscles that stabilze their shoulder blades. When, for no apparent reason they feel the need to sprint from one room to the next or down the isle at Target, I know that they are increasing their insulin sensitivity which keeps their blood sugar stable, gives their pancreas a break and allows their body to buffer the ill-effects of the Dunkin Doughnuts they got a play-date. My girls are civil enough, they say please and thank you, are respectful to adults and other children and will one day use utensils. But I don't expect them to sit still, to be quiet, or to slow down, it's bad for them.

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