Recently, I have been developing this guilt laden conviction that we ought to be doing more for our kids in the area of exercise, fitness, sports, et. al. It laid heavy on my heart that we are passing our lazy, non-athletic, exercise-less lifestyles onto our kiddos. Sure, we brought them to swimming lessons each summer, and played a little in our pool with them, and DH would break out the Speedminton set once every couple of months and whack the shuttlecock around with Little Son. Once about 18 months ago, we went as a family out to a tennis court and happily made fools out of ourselves. Heck.. we even get the croquet set out from time to time, and play a family round. How's that for aerobic activity? And both children just love those AWANA games; talk about 'em all week long. But deep down inside was the nagging feeling that we, somehow, have been shortchanging our children in this area.

We are also completely hopeless, helpless, and clueless in the realm of sports. It wasn't long ago that our eight year old couldn't tell the difference between a tennis ball and a baseball. Yes, it was embarrassing. Then a few things happened this summer.

First, we took the children to a minor league baseball game. It was a company function for DH's work group. They loved it, and followed the game as best they could, with our help. In fact, you could say our son was fairly riveted, and our daughter didn't ever quite know what was happening but showed lots of team spirit and knew the right questions to ask. And they both loved the ice cream and peanuts.

Enter the Summer Olympics. We thought that some of the events might inspire our kids, but we really thought that it would be the swimming that did so -- after all, swimming was something they could relate to. Nope. It wasn't the swimming.

Instead, it was the hurdles. And the sprints. And the volleyball. And for both of them, gulp ... the rhythmic gymnastics. For hours, they whirled and twirled around our family room with hula hoops and homemade streamers. They really had both parents looking at each other with eyebrows raised.

So much for parents knowing their kids.

Actually, I did mourn the end of the Olympics yesterday evening. I truly love watching the Olympics, and I feel actual sadness when they are over.

So, Providentially, a friend of our homeschool support group happened to email our group about a high quality Christian homeschool P.E. program. Well, upon closer examination, it fit the bill for us. It is on the correct day of the week, and I can bring both children to participate at the same time. In addition, it is reasonably convenient to us (where we live, a half hour's drive is convenient), and I can stay there and enjoy the park while the children are busy. It is a little expensive, however, so I thought my DH would shrug off the idea. But, with very little coaxing on my part, he was pretty quickly in favor of the idea! So I seized upon the opportunity and sent in the registration form. We will begin next week. The children are both very excited about it. Our son is eagerly anticipating the Track and Field and volleyball activities they promise. The best part is they will get to wear cute T shirts as well.

So, next Tuesday (9/2) is the first day. We are looking forward very much to this new experience in our lives. And a load of guilt off for me!