Bring Positive Solutions Into Your Home

I like to call myself an optimistic.  I love seeing the positive side of things and love to challenge myself with finding a more positive way of asking my children to get things done.  For instance, by biggest hurdle had once been this: “Stop running in the kitchen!” Once it was pointed out to me, I changed it to: “Please walk!” And ironically, I find myself correcting my husband when he says such negative things.  I mean, think about it, do you find it annoying when people say, “Do not eat chocolate.” or “Stop eating gluten.” or “Stop sitting around and just exercise.” I can’t stand being told what ‘not’ to do, and I am sure my children are annoyed as well.  So yesterday, while the kiddos were happily playing, I found an opportunistic moment for which I could teach them how we could bring positive solutions into our home that could potentially bring positive solutions into their classrooms as well as throughout the rest of their lives.

Let me track back back a bit so you can see a bit more into my world.  I have a daughter who is nearly nine years old.  When I was growing up, I was still playing with Barbies at her age.  Sure, she still plays with her Barbies, but I often wonder what goes on in her mind while she plays.  Today there is so much hype over such things as what we look like, how much money we make and what kind of car we drive.  Since I have not heard of any such thoughts come out during her role playing I have abstained from asking what may be going on in her beautiful mind while playing.  When I played with my Barbies, I was just excited to be sharing my friend’s accessories and knowing that we would be staying up late.  Am I the only one who wonders what goes on in our child’s mind after they are exposed to things seen on television or hearing what a group of adults are discussing?

Being in the health and fitness industry since before I had children has surely given me two sides of life to look at: before and after children.  Children are sensitive in regards to the words we speak and I have become much more aware of the language I use around my children.  No, I am not referring to vulgarity, I am referring to such words like, fat, losing weight, calories, gluten-free (or anything “-free” for that matter) and unmotivated.  When such words come up in conversation it is sometimes addressed at the moment, or I may even wait until a question arises.  As I said previously, my daughter is nearly nine.  I also have a son who almost 7.  They are intelligent.  ALL children are intelligent.  They listen, whether you want to believe it or not.  It may not be apparent at first, but somewhere down the line, what they hear or see, will likely come out.  I just would rather my children seek the answers from my husband or I, first.  This is why when such a conversation such as one regarding calories comes up, I feel the need to address it.

My husband loves his news.  That’s all fine and dandy, but when it is on, I have to be attentive as to what is being said and portrayed.  There was one such family being interviewed awhile back.  This family was talking about health issues which eventually led into the media hype about calories, watching fat intake among other thoughts and ideas around the subject of weight loss.  Both of my children began asking questions because they know I am a dietitian.  I had explained about how calories are energy and that we need to always strive to make healthy choices so that we are able to succeed in school and in life.  In my ways of explaining in a much more positive manner, they understood and left it at that.

So back to my original comment.  Just yesterday my two were playing with their white board and pretending to be at school.  They worked together coming up with rules for their pretend classroom.  My daughter read them out loud.  Quite frankly, they were quite similar to what I have seen displayed in classrooms.  I found myself compelled to turn it around as I asked them to find ways to keep the rules but turn them into something positive, or things that their make-believe classmates are allowed to do.  I was very pleased with how easily and quickly they were able to come up with new, positive rules.  Check it out!

 

 

What can you learn from my strategy with my children? Well, when we are talking about fitness and nutrition and our desires to make positive health changes, think about what can be done as opposed to what cannot be done.  Give yourself a more positive perspective such as:

1. Eat one more vegetable each day.
2. Drink a glass of water upon waking.
3. Make an appointment to hit the gym 5 days each week.
4. Choose to have dressing on the side.
5. Make active time family time at least one day each week.

As you may already know, if we adhere to a more positive approach on parenting, our relationships or healthy goals, it can make life so much more fulfilling.  So the next time you are struggling to reach that next fitness goal, or seeking ways to get your children to try new foods, take a look at how you express things.  Is there a way to adjust your rules or choice of words, into a more positive solution? I am sure there is.  Just grab your family and give it a try.