Take a cue from our pets and let's go outside and play!

Take a Cue from our Pets and Let’s Go Outside and Play!

Have you ever noticed how our pets love to go outside. When they go outside they get happy and playful. They want to chase sticks, go for walks, play with and retrieve balls and play with each other. My family is trying to take our cues from Snickers and Snowball, our pets, and go out to play. We already are walking two to three times per day with our pets. If it’s good for our pets then it must be great for our children. Now we are getting our children in on the walking, playing and staying outside.

Last weekend we played football in the yard for hours. It felt like the families you see on tv, like a commercial for what families should look like and do. The kids were so fun to watch. They become more animated, happy and smiling when playing. Even though you know they would rather be inside talking to their friends or playing online games, they can’t help smiling and having fun when we all go outside. I love to just sit back and observe them playing. As parents, the best thing we can do is to get active with our kids. The more active we are the more active they will be as they get older.

If we aren’t walking or playing football, you can often see us riding bikes on our greenway. We specifically bought our house because it is close to the park and close to a greenway so we can walk and bike. My neighbors are outside a lot walking and exercising as well. I love our neighborhood! In our ‘hood we also have a creek running through it. On Sunday afternoons we love to get some worms and go fishing on the banks of the creek. We always throw back what we catch. But the memories will remain.

You don’t have to just be recreational outside. We are exactly a mile from a grocery store. Why not make it a family errand to walk to the store, get your groceries and then walk back home. You’ve combined fun, errands and physical activity. What a great combination and you managed to do three things at once. You don’t always have to be doing a sport. Just walk. Walking as a family is the perfect time to talk about your children’s day. What do they want, dream about or live for? Really listening as you walk will teach you so much about your children.

As a Tennessee family, we love it when the fall weather gets here. Our summer days tend to heat up in the 100’s. But now that our days are in the 80’s we are loving moving ourselves outside to play. Families that play together stay together. Make sure you are enjoying the members of your family. They grow up so fast and leave our nest before we blink. Make memories that will last a lifetime. Get up, get outside and play! Take the pledge here: http://clorox2play2day.com/. Your family benefits when mom and dad take the children and the pets outside to spend quality time together. Being active with your family is not just a benefit. It’s a memory that no one can take away!

I wrote this blogpost for Chlorox2 and SocialMoms. If chosen I will receive a $40 gift card as payment. All opinions are mine. For more information about how you can get involved click here: http://clorox2.socialmoms.com/about