I don’t know about you, but we are back to busy. The universal acceptance to sit around and indulge during a pandemic is over. It is time to return to our healthy way of living and not use the excuse that we are now busy. Here are a few healthy habits you and the family can do together.
Wellness Check-Ups
From your primary care physician to the eye doctor to the dentist, make your appointments and go. It’s a good way to teach your kids to take care of their health and not fearing going to the doctor. Can you tell that Jack is now 6 ft tall? He breached that monumental mark during the pandemic.
Certain medical facilities like Absolute Dental provide services for both adults and children, which means you can all make your appointments on the same day and see the dentist together. We had the 3 kids go to the dentist together last month and my husband and I got our visits in this month. It’s good to get back on that 6 month routine.
Eat Well
Eating well is an easy habit to maintain when you cook at home. Even though you are busy, meal plan for the week so that every night you have something to cook. This post gives you some meal planning pointers and healthy meals. I’m a huge advocate of meal planning, but in a sustainable way.
When you cook at home, you have complete control over what you put in your body. If you get your children involved, you can cook together, which is great for bonding. Teaching your children how to cook and cook well is a skill they will need for the rest of their lives. It’s a fun way to spend time together.
Here’s a glimpse into our kitchen. We were making bread THIS BREAD to go with our stew before we went out Trick or Treating.
Exercise
Exercise is more fun when you are doing it with someone who supports your journey. Although you cannot show up to the gym with your kids, you can find weekend activities that you can do all together. Also, your kids will watch your example if you are consistent about going to the gym.
We went to a corn maze recently and had a great time while getting in some steps. Teach your kids the joy of staying in shape and exercising and they will continue to live a healthy life.
It’s make our life busy, but it’s good to have the kids enjoying sports again as well. Jack is finishing up his basketball season and Annabelle just finished her fall swim season. We try to find enjoyable ways to stay healthy.
Down Time
Everyone needs to balance their lives between downtime and active time, and your children are no exception to this rule. They busy their brains in school, their bodies with school sports, and their emotions with the day to day of life. Just like adults, kids need time in their day to do nothing but relax and experience joy. Family movie nights are great to create memories and allow your child that safe space to put their feet up, enjoy themselves, and not be bothered by the comings and goings of life. We are working our way through as many Hallmark movies as we can this season!
Talking
Do you ever sit back and let your kids talk to each other? I’m a “Smother” at times and I want to know how everything is going. I need to let them have their space too. This is a scene after school when they are talking and eating their snack.
However, there also needs to be at time and place to talk to your kids. Find out how they are doing and give them advice on what to do in life. This builds trust, and that is the ultimate way for everyone to stay healthy and know that they are loved.
I will end this post of a silly photo we took last week. It’s a candid outtake, but it shows the enjoyment that comes when we do things together. The result of healthy habits is happy kids.
