As we live and learn we discover what lessons are the most important …and for each person it’s a different answer. For some it’s book knowledge, for others it’s life skills, for some it’s dealing with complex situations, for others it’s the simple things like learning to take time for yourself and discover what makes you happy. Individual happiness is something that many parents/providers struggle with. We have a family or work with families because it makes us happy to make others happy. We love seeing the kids we care for smile! But, how often do we make ourselves smile and take time to do what makes us happy?
(what would you draw?)
In the last article we talked a bit about respect/responsibility towards others and ourselves. How do you take care for and respect yourself? How do you take responsibility for your happiness? I question my needs and wants. I know a trip exploring old castles would make me “happy” ~ but due to our schedule and finances I can run off to play princess today. However, I can watch “Princess Bride” tonight, I can read my kids a fairy tale, I can get creative and write my own… I can dream of adventure and I can plan for that trip in the future. Sadly however, the future is unknown. Even if I buy my ticket today there’s no guarantee I’ll be traveling tomorrow. Life happens. Uncontrollable forces happen. We can’t plan for emergencies that stop our plans, but we can try and prevent accidents and try and keep ourselves healthy.
(printable 8×10 worksheet)
We can take a survey of our health. We can look at what we eat, our medical plans, our first aid supplies… we can look at our lifestyles and activities to see how healthy we are and we might be surprised that taking care of our health can help with our happiness! Maybe there are changes we can make to prevent some of those emergencies! Maybe we can get those doctor check-ups we make sure our kids receive but never have time for ourselves to attend. Maybe we can ask a nutritionist to help us with meal planning and maybe we can ask that friend who teaches exercise classes to help us make a game plan for working out!
(printable 8×10 worksheet)
Since it is proven that people have learned to enjoy exercise maybe ~ just maybe ~ we can add that to both our learning goals and healthy goals for this year = reaching that happy goal! Working out doesn’t mean you haveta pay big bucks at a fancy gym (but if you have the cash and friends to work out with go for it!)… If you’re not useta moving much give yourself a goal to start off small and stretch every morning for a week. Then next week stretch each morning and each evening. Then add a mid-day stretch. By the end of the month add a 5 min hard work out after one of those daily stretches. It can be some fast exercises, dancing to music, playing tag with your kid, whatever… keep adding 5 more mins each week … in a few months you’ll have the endurance for 2 half hr sessions or 1 full hour routine. Maybe then you can plan on taking a yoga class or take dance ~ or just keep playing with your kids ~ but turn times into playing a game of soccer, riding bikes, or going on a long hike. Between eating better and moving more you’ll be feeling better about yourself just in time to wear that swim suit!
(start of a hero-training space… what theme would your room be?)
When kids see you moving more they’ll learn to enjoy exercise and continue on for their lives with happy/healthy outlooks. Help them discover their abilities and strengthen their skills, both large and small motor skills. Did you know working on those fine and gross motor abilities helps them do better in school? From writing skills to paying attention ~ movement and motion helps us learn. Mi body lessons through Mi Families teaches us how to work together to conquer physical abilities and learn about keeping ourselves healthy. Learning about our bodies and how to keep them healthy helps us stay happy and that’s one of the most important lessons we can teach our kids. Need help developing a Mi body curriculum for your kids? Ask about our Fit-Fam plans for your family or center!
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