One Wet Spring: Four Hydrated Boys
This season’s rain has been unrelenting… we’ve had nothing but gray, dark skies and squishy yards, and my kids come home daily with soaked shoes and socks. (Who in their right mind would wear galoshes, mom?!) Yet, honestly, this is one of the best springs I’ve known in years. Why? It’s not because our grass is so green (although it is) but rather, because the wet fields have led to cancelled sports and practices.
While there is nothing I love more than watching my kids get out and stretch their legs, and run as if they had wings, it is with great sadness that spring break ends, and along with it, that tight familial bond of family time, togetherness and relaxation. The final session of school begins, and spring sports start. With each year, parents seem to dread spring a bit more each year, with some of us call now calling the month of May, with its unrelenting practice and game schedules, the new “December.”
As the weather warms, all of us are itching to get outside…and spring sports seems like the most logical solution to everyone’s needs. Yet, to a family with four active boys, the practice schedules make it almost impossible to provide the basic core elements to creating a healthy lifestyle. Late nights in the car pool can push homework into bedtime, and the balanced meal can mean grabbing unhealthy snacks on the run. To keep kids in top physical condition, they need optimum sleep, exercise and good nutrition.
Absolutely adorable…, I know…
Then, I had the opportunity to listen to Stephanie Hamm, mom to six, and mom to retired American soccer player and U.S. Olympian, Mia Hamm. All of Stephanie’s children played sports. They all had relentless schedules… and yet Stephanie looks back on those practices and games as the “best family time they ever had.” Please check out her inspiring video here. I participated in a conference call and some other mommy bloggers via BlogHer, and many of us were in awe at her enthusiasm, grace and ability to recall how she kept it all together despite the unrelenting practices. Each “strike-out” brought an opportunity to “talk it through and teach their child about values.” The games provided an opportunity for the family to cheer each other on, and build self-esteem. Long hours in hotel rooms were used to build family bonding times. They also watched lots of movies, after having family meetings about what was “appropriate.”
I am in awe of Stephanie Hamm. She inspired me to fill the crock-pot in the morning with all the ingredients for Sloppy Joes, and grabbing a pack of buns and loading the car with all the kids and eating a potluck, tailgate style, with my family at the soccer game’s parking lot.
Yet, in many ways, we have it easier than Stephanie did. For one thing, we know more about how our bodies work, we pay more attention to our health, and understand how critical hydration and fueling is to athletic performance. Fluid losses of as little as 2 percent of body weight (less than 4 pounds in a 200-pound athlete) can impair performance by increasing fatigue. It’s common for some athletes to lose between 5-8 pounds of sweat during a game, so it’s easy for athletes to become dehydrated if they don’t drink enough to replace what is lost in sweat.
To overcome dehydration, we have Gatorade’s G Series, specially designed to provide athletes with the sports nutrition and hydration their body needs before, during and after training and competition. The carbohydrates and electrolytes in sports drinks help refuel muscles and speed re-hydration. Specifically, here’s how the G Series breaks down. (You can find all this information from the research done by the Gatorade Sports Science Institute, GSSI):
01 Prime
- Pre-game fuel to help them start stronger.
02 Perform
- Performance hydration to help them last longer.
03 Recover
- Post-game protein to help them recover faster.
The G Series Natural
- Natural ingredients like sea salt, natural flavors and sweeteners.
Today, we understand the importance of nutrition, and the role protein plays in helping kids developing muscle to prevent injuries. The Gatorade Mom website is full of resourceful links to help busy moms incorporate the latest in scientific health research to help our kids. For example, check out this article on Post Workout Protein-Packed Breakfasts on the Gatorade site full of the things kids love.
While I certainly don’t miss the traveling this spring, thanks to the rain, my kids are still finding ways to stretch their legs by heading to the backyard to do some kind of kicking around.
We’ve had our share of basketball games spelling H-O-R-S-E, the soccer ball lands over the neighbor’s fence (almost daily), “ramps” are built along the sidewalk as ramps, and kick ball is always an all-time daily favorite. We may not be heading to the park for our daily dose of exercise this spring, the kids are still running, and Gatorade is keeping us fueled and hydrated.
Like Mia’s mom, I’m sure you’ve come up with some innovate solutions of creating “family time” in the midst of crazy sports schedules. For us, this year, family time came in the form of the rain. So, what are your tips to keep quality family time high, despite the crazy schedules? Leave a comment and you will be entered in a chance to win a $100 gift card to Dick’s Sporting Goods from BlogHer and Gatorade from 6/1/11 – 6/30/11. Here are the official rules for the contest:
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