Families who run together have fun together. I can't disagree with that. Fitness is very important to our family. Physical activity is good for our bodies and minds, and it provides another way for our family to develop strong bonds.
Sport runs in the family. My husband is from northern England and grew up playing cricket. He played here until fatherhood got in the way. He is a diehard rugby fan, and it is a passion he shares with our eldest daughter, along with golf. Our daughters also play football.
I grew up in the exurbs of a Canadian prairie city, so baseball was the big thing in summer. Then it was ice skating and jam pail curling in winter. (There were no girls' ice hockey teams back in the day.) Although I loved to play, I was not a stand-out. It wasn't until high school, when the focus of gym programmes went from team sports to ones that had an element of 'individualism', that I really became comfortable in gym class.
All of a sudden, it seems, I found out I was good at something outside the classroom. I excelled at archery and cross country running, I surprised myself by realising I could finish a 10-kilometre run. All I needed was an opportunity to find that out. I see this experience as a formative event.
It showed me that we can all be good at a wide variety of endeavours, and that we shouldn't pigeon-hole ourselves or let others try to do that with schoolyard labels. We can be everything we want to be, and we should never hesitate to give it a go. As a parent, I see it as job number one to introduce my children to as many different experiences as I can. I like to observe how they react and where their interests and skills lie. Then I can help them figure out how they want to take it forward.
This has resulted in some interesting activities and experiences. One summer I took my children on an 'eco-journey' to Iceland, where we rode on hydrogen-powered coaches, toured geothermal plants and played golf under the midnight sun.