Schools
Igo School Wellness Department Puts One Mom in Her Place
Igo School Wellness Department sends home "Get Ready 5-2-1" checklist for students, leading one mom to question her parenting.
In walks my son from school on Friday, April 27, with a smile and a backpack full of papers. Little did I know, that one paper would cause me to rethink my abilities as a mother.
Igo School Wellness Department sent home an activity called "My 5-2-1 Log," asking children to track the following information for five weeks:
5- Record the servings of fruits and veggies you try each day. Five or more each day is the healthy way!
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2- Limit your screen time (TV, computer, video games). Try not to guess! You'll be a success if it's two hours or less.
1- Add up your exercise time to get the activity score. Get an hour or more to build a strong core.
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Children were instructed to complete the form, where they check off how many fruits and vegetables they eat per day, how many hours of screen time they had (two hours or less or two hours of more), and how much exercise they had (an hour or more or 30 minutes or more).
After the completion of the form, they were instructed to it back into school to receive a certificated and admission to an unknown "Fun Event."
All is well and good, until my son and I go to fill out the log on the first Monday.
How many fruits and vegetables you ask?
Does a Nutrigrain bar count? That is probably pushing it, so I whip up some strawberries and bananas last minute and shove them down my son's throat. We checked off four for the day. Five was the healthy way. Bummer.
Next, we move on to screen time. Does playing Wii count? Yes. Bummer. We had to check off two hours or more. I almost lied. But what is my son learning if I lie on his behalf?
Luckily, we did have an hour or more of exerise between baseball practice and the playground. Thank goodness.
Although the log made me want to hide under a rock in shame for a brief moment, my son and I vowed to make sure he was more healthy the following day. We succeeded.
A big thanks to the Igo School Wellness Department for putting this mother in her place, and pressuring my family into reevaluating our so-called "healthy" lifestyle. It is important to take a moment and consider how you can improve as a parent to ensure the healthiness of your child, even if it makes you want to go into hiding.
