Parenthood as an American Excuse for Apathy
I had a rather funny exchange with a friend on Facebook yesterday. Have a look:
I consider Ryan to be a friend, and I'm sure he loves his children, but I have no sympathy for his excuse for his lack of exercise. For all of the people I've met in my life who've used their children as an excuse for not exercising or challenging themselves, I have known just about as many who have children and yet make the time to keep themselves healthy and strong. Indeed, it generally seems that the parents who manage to maintain enough discipline to devote time to their children while finding time to exercise their bodies and minds tend to have children who learn to do the same.
One common theme I've seen amongst some parents in America is the attitude that parenting is so 'hard' that it excuses any negative attitudes, lacking health, or failures on the part of the parent. That to me is the equivalent of not accepting the consequences of the decision to have children. Apathy cannot be excused through children. Indeed, that attitude just creates more apathetic children who then turn into apathetic parents themselves one day. Break the cycle. Get off the couch. Take the kids for a walk, read a book with them, teach them how to do cartwheels, etc. Children live what they learn.
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