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3:21 PM, Sunday, March 28th, 2021:
 
This shouldn't come as a surprise, but it's always a jolting moment when you see your kid stand out.
 
So, uhm, Cam likes it when we strap something on him that gives him a high score for moving and he gets to act like he's in a video game every day.
 
Duh.
 
So we got the kids a fitbit and they came the first day of their spring break. Why this didn't occur to us a year ago is beyond me. We actually tried to do a daily outdoor running thing with them at the beginning of the pandemic and Cam just wasn't having it. It hurts him, his asthma is a motherfuck and it drains him immediately. Kid just doesn't get the same oxygen when he breathes that we do. It's awful.
 
However, one of the best things you can do for asthma is strngthen your lungs. Obvious catch-22, and with so much shittiness surrounding the quarantine we didn't push it. We forced them outside often, but they would often just sit and talk or say they were bored. In that backyard. They were bored.
 
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Cut to last week and Talya and I were tipsy and being blatantly honest about our concerns as parents and Cam's weight came up. There's no doubt he has my blood. He can out-eat me sometimes at 7. I could do the same when I was his age. We have the hunter-gatherer body and without the activity at an actual physical school with other kids? He's just never gonna get the exercise he needs. Kids, need, each other. That's how they move without even thinking about it. Recess is the shit. Hell, even moving from class to class and not staring at a laptop is the shit. Well if you look at the kid at his 6.5 birthday last June and then cut to 6 months later? Probably a double-digit weight gain. Now of course some of this is just the normal growth spurts kids go through, but little dude was always THICK. Like proportionally his butt looks like another head. We've known for awhile that if he isn't in some sport that his love for gaming is gonna be an issue. Enter pandemic and nowhere to run but the backyard.
 
So I had this revelation. Instead of doing what it seems we're told to do, which is tiptoe around all topics about weight/health... what if we gave them the tools they need to beat it? Just straight up. They see Talya and I with our apple watches in various stages of working out or eating right (or struggling therein) - like we have to be self-aware as parents: we didn't pull it off. That great ideal where your kids see you eating healthy, working out, having a routine... yeah that shit didn't happen. We're normal people that struggle and the kids see it. We've always been honest about that with them, and Cam's asthma was a nice transition to give them fitbits and explain what they're for. Of course Vienna needs to be active as well, but in my life I have never seen someone eat more perfectly than this human. She can eat 3 bites and say "Yup, I'm good", and walk away for 2 hours. Repeat, daily. It's amazing. I mean, it's how modern humans are supposed to eat of course... but to me? That's a goddamned magic trick. She simply never overeats because it doesn't occur to her. I mean. Fuck her.

LOL
 
So the result, at least a week in, has been immediate. We told the kids if they do their homework and get 10,000 steps? They can do anything they want. Now it's been spring break, but man - they knocked that out before NOON. Hell, Cam got over 20,000 steps one day. He wants to be "healthy and strong" as he puts it and the funny thing is? I think he's trying to be kind to ME. Like, he doesn't want to say it to my face but he is aware that I'm substantially bigger than I usually am and he doesn't want to be THAT. He just won't say FAT. We have two very sweet kids. Doesn't really bother me because I know my routine and I know what I'm shooting this year... I will be back to skinny me because I have to be. Maintaining after I've shot everything? Sheeeeeeit. No idea. I'll deal with that then.
 
So we'll see what happens when school starts back up but the focus in this little dude's personality is really, really crazy. Like - he's got my adult traits soooooo young. Goal oriented and certain he can pull it off... it's just wild to see that so innate? Is that the word? Like we picture "Tiger Moms" or drill sargeant types of parents turning kids into robots - and that is not me nor is it Talya. We clearly follow their lead and their traits and just try and support them... but watch this video of Cam:
 
 
CHRIST THE TEARS. Shit wrecks me. It's just in him. It isn't taught. I literally just explained the facts of the matter when it comes to movement and health and he took the fuck off.

Proud dad moment for sure.

Adam