Feature: Family Walking
Weight, coinage, and GPS are set aside to speak to the
virtues of a family walking. Today’s walk
was a generational experience with grandparents, parents, and grandchildren
sharing a 3 miler.
One benefit of family walking allows the adults to model
healthy behavior for the children and grandchildren. Being overweight or obese as a child leads to
heart disease, hypertension, and diabetes during the adult years. For mainstream adults, walking is an
inexpensive antidote for these major killers, and new data are convincing that
walking prevents dementia and Alzheimer’s disease in the aged.
Our walk fostered excellent conversation between the adults,
and both children including 11 month Payton and 2 yr, 9 month Paxton gaining
ample opportunities to hear and be heard.
Cell phones, computer games, the internet, and household chores were all
set aside in the Virginia walking paths.
Thus, regular family walking improves family relationships by building
mutual respect achieved through understanding that comes from quality
conversation and shared pleasures. Some
families find that walking at the end of a day is a splendid way to unwind as thoughts
of the day are shared.
Our destination was a modest playground about 1.5 miles from
a trailhead. Young Paxton walked the
entire way. There as the two children played on the equipment with other
children, we adults exchanged pleasantries with the other adults. Parents that take frequent family walks
report that the walking habit is an effective way of getting to know their
neighbors. It is easy to understand how
a neighborhood walk with the family and where neighbors are met leads to a
sense of community that feels safer and more connected.
The Moneywalker has rarely felt more relaxed and happy while
enjoying quality time with his adult family members and their children than
from this stimulating family walk.
MoneyWalker
