This conversation is sponsored by Horizon Organic. The opinions and text are all mine.
Sometimes I cringe when I look at the calendar. The thought of trying to be healthy and active when your schedule is utter chaos seems like a joke. It’s not just my schedule that is crazy but everyone in the family. When your days become stressed and chaotic it’s hard to find time to be active and eat well. It leaves room for the drive thru windows or no meals at all. What do you mean you can’t eat cereal for dinner….fine then go to bed hungry, I’m exhausted! It’s happened, no judging. Having a plan helps. I’ve never been a serious planner until I had children. Now if I don’t make a plan, it probably won’t get done. Especially not with working from home, taking online college classes, taking care of a house and a family. Making sure they are fed three balanced meals a day and that I don’t trip on overflowing laundry. I just cringed again.
It is a sad truth that grade schools are shortening or in some cases taking away recess and only go to P.E. once every other week. This has been the case with my daughter. It’s affected her greatly and I can tell because when she comes home she is bouncing off the walls or I get a note from her teacher saying that she was in trouble for skipping in the halls (true story). So instead of asking her each day when she comes home if she got any play time we just do it.
These are some of the simple ways that we have stayed active and healthy with our busy lifestyle.
1. Set a routine – Having a daily and weekly routine helps to stay active and focused. If I didn’t set a routine I would forget about making sure the dogs are fed or that my daughters homework not only gets done but makes it back to the school. Kids function better with routine also. That is why they say to start when they are babies. Having a set naptime. It benefits you as well. You might set time to clean during that nap time. Our after school routine consists of a snack, playtime, chores, dinner, homework and then bed. It’s pretty much the same every day unless it’s a night when we have dance. Those nights we do homework and chores before dinner and then head to dance.
2. Buy outdoor equipment – this can be as simple as a soccer net and ball to a swing set. As long as it can be played with outside. Ride bikes in the driveway, scooters down the sidewalk or get one of these fun Swingcars. We also have a soccer net in our back yard that she can run around and kicked the ball with her sister. Every little bit helps especially if they aren’t getting it at school. 
3. Healthy snack time – Kids need good snacks to feed that energy. Sugary and salty snacks that are high in fats are only going to slow them down and make them tired. Not the good kid of tired either where they go to bed early or sleep in the next day, but the tired that doesn’t help around the house and sits in front of screen like a zombie. Which brings me to the next tip.
4. Limit screen time – I used to let me daughter watch TV when she first came home from school and now she only gets to watch it after dinner if there is time after homework and chores. The only screen she looks at when she comes home now is the tablet that has her Chore Monster app on it. Everything she has to do, including brushing her teeth to feeding the dogs is on that app. When they sit in front of the TV time slips by in a blink and nothing is getting done. It hinders the flow of the routine! Besides they could be playing and getting active instead of sitting.
5. Have a “lazy” day – After a busy week of kids activities and school, it’s nice to unwind and spend some fun unplanned and spontaneous fun together. Head to the park and have a BBQ. Catch a family movie or have a special movie night at home. It’s not really a lazy day, per se, but it’s time to make memories without the daily grind to get in the way. It’s a day to blow off the chaos.
So those are my tips for staying healthy and active with a busy schedule like ours. Visit Horizon Organic’s Facebook page to snag some coupons for some great snacks. You can also follow them on Twitter @Horizon_Organic and get lots of great tips from the Horizon Organic Pinterest page.
How do you help your kids learn to make healthy choices?
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This conversation is sponsored by Horizon Organic. The opinions and text are all mine.
