Dilemma
Having kids in the family requires that adults must do something to get these kids to move, to get those legs working, perhaps play outdoors, sweat, and just be kids! In this time and generation, our youngsters' faces are often stuck on digital screens, it's quite alarming looking at my niece who has online and module classes which she does during the weekdays. The online class goes from 12:30 PM until four while the modules are done in the morning after breakfast.
Once she's done, she goes to either playing Roblox on her iPad or streaming YouTube videos on the smart TV. The online class by the way is done on her iPad so she has been already looking at the screen for four hours then continues to do so because of the game and YouTube.
My nephews, ages five and three are almost having the same trend too! Their normal day is to wake up, watch cartoon videos on the phone while having breakfast (else they won't eat), wash, watch TV, eat, then go back to watching videos again. Yes, I know eating with a phone on the table is already a red flag! By the afternoon, when the weather is nicer, we go out to walk in the garden and the front yard but that takes only an inch of their day.
Pandemic
I believe that this might also be the case with other families especially that there's a pandemic and we are encouraged to stay at home but being idle, just staying indoors with less activity is not very nice for children, they got all energies that need to be used! They have to keep their DOSE levels up! DOSE means Dopamine, Serotonin, Oxytocin, and Endorphins.
My Childhood
Remembering my childhood, our afternoon (sometimes mornings too) is filled with activities that utilize the body parts, legs, arms, even our faces! Movements such as running, hopping, skipping, jumping, dancing, and all. We also play all sorts of Filipino games, tumbang preso, langit lupa, patintero, taguan, shato, and others. We also have social interaction with friends, fun fights, and these often result in sobs, crying, and sometimes actual fights! And I won't forget how the mothers would go out running after their kids when they went swimming with their T-shirts and pants on.
Imagine this: the mothers (except my mother, teehee) play Bingo and other card games at the nearby house along the coastal area, all these mothers bring their kids to the beach, the kids were allowed to do whatever they wanted, even swimming in the water, just not go to the deeper part! That's the scene every afternoon.
Oh, I could remember how packed our black beach shores were before with all kids from the neighborhood. No kid stays at home during the afternoon because we all know, it's game time. No one wants to be left behind. We all know as well that after getting drenched with sweat and tears (for some), we will all end up in the water and kids love swimming!
When summer comes, we also savor the temporary dried rice fields flying kites, climbing trees, and running pageants on mountain heaps of dried hays, those which were freshly harvested, we would even collect rice grains that had been dropped by the farmers and exchange them to a piece of freshly baked Bibingka! I believe it was one Bibingka for 1 can full of grains.
Those were just some of my fond childhood memories. I super hope these kids could also experience it. Too bad I don't have photos to share here but I know you get these scenes in your head, I know that some of you had similar experiences.
So, why am I giving you these paragraphs of mumblings though? Well, I was just feeling bad that the pandemic happened, our kids didn't get to interact with other kids any longer, it is not so good staying indoors all day, all week long. So the next blog article is about our attempt to get the babies out of the house. We visited the beach yesterday. I had to just make this one first because the introduction was too long I have to cut this blog into two.
xoxo,
mommy jean of momentswithmatti
Love harder than any pain you've ever felt.
I actually think kids nowadays are missing out on quite a lot these days, and it has been a trend happening long before the pandemic. One thing I have commented on about the last 20 years or so in Hollywood and in the music industry is lack of originality. Lack of creativity. And I think part of it stems from the fact that many kids who are not adults had everything spoon fed to them, from technological gadgets and video games, that there minds just never had a chance to develop into individual thinkers and creators.
When we were kids we played make-believe. We ran and played and even if we did not have certain toys, we found sticks or other things to fashion them, and used our imaginations to make them real.
Kids need not only physical exercise. They need to exercise their minds as well.