- Drive them everywhere (vs. walking or biking with them when they are little, and sending them to walk or bike on their own when they get bigger)
- Buy the high school student a car (vs. buy them a bike)
- Get cable TV and let them watch (vs. renting just a few videos)
- Have a no-running-or-jumping-in-the-house rule—unless you are also providing daily running and jumping time elsewhere (vs. designating a part of the home—even just one hallway with a carpet—as a tumbling and jumping space)
- Serve them a main meal that includes no fruit or vegetables—or let them eat any of the other stuff and leave the nutrients on the plate (vs. serving fruit or vegetables first, so they’ll eat them while they are hungry)
- Get portable DVD players and game consoles to keep them busy (vs. don’t)
Parents complain that they don’t have time to take kids to the park—or that activity classes are too expensive or too difficult to schedule. But it was adults, not kids, who invented the idea that kids can only play in a designated park or class. Kids who are too young to go out unsupervised will exercise on their own, if you can just put two of them together in the absence of electronic entertainment and get out of the way. Kids who are old enough to go out unsupervised should be encouraged to do so. Remember, unless you live in an area with regular drive-by shootings, if you try to keep your ten-year-old safe by keeping him or her inside, you are most likely decreasing, rather than increasing, life expectancy. If a parent lets kids eat junk, he or she is just being selfish or lazy.
