Get Up, Get Out! and No Child Left Inside! Are two slogans of the Karno Kids Foundation, organized by ultra endurance athlete Dean Karnazes.
Dean blogged today about the fact that kids are not participating in being outdoors in nature and being as active as any of us would like for them. I think we all have fond memories of the summers we spent on our bikes or skates or flip flops to and from the community pool. We want that for today’s kids, too.
Yet how do parents of diabetic kids feel comfortable taking their kids out and having them run and play and fall and scrape and get all mucky and then check their blood glucose with dirty fingers?
(alright, that one was an easy one: alcohol swabs and more snacks and less insulin)
I think with diabetic kids it’s easy for a parent to see them as “broken” because they do have a malfunctioning pancreas. Yet it is essential for them to get out and behave just like any other kid and get their elbows scraped, knees skinned, and every now and then an arm broken, just like their friends.
Our lives are more complicated by diabetes, absolutely. Yet we still need fresh air and sun-streaked hair and dirty knees, too.
The blog comments are fascinating at Dean’s blog today; if you are a parent and/or someone interested in helping get kids out and active, I suggest you check it out here! I’ll stop writing so you still have time to go over there and read.
But, in case you don’t have that kind of time, here’s one of my favorite comments posted by Jason Hayden:
It’s up to us as parents to set an example for our kids. We should be our kids best role models and expose the to all of the amazing activities out there. Bring field guides when you hike so that you can look up everything the kids find, teach kids how to fix their bikes, get out of your own comfort zone and try new things so that the kids see it’s ok to be uncomfortable when trying something new.
It shouldn’t matter what the weather is the kids can still get outside…20 below or 100…appropriate gear, appropriate hydration and food, appropriate duration for the conditions…everyone can still have fun if you plan these things out right.
Get outside, get in the dirt, have fun!
