From the editor

Irecently spent a beautiful morning on a beach full of amazing boulders. The beach was packed with big family groups – from those born in 2019 to those born closer to 1919! While I was sunning myself on a rock, I noticed something strange. None of the little children were playing on the rocks. In fact, none of the teenagers were playing on the rocks either. And it wasn’t that they were trying to climb, with parents preventing them… They weren’t even trying. The smaller children played in the sand and shallow water, and the teens lolled under umbrellas, phone in hand.

I found it a sad sign of our times and a clear result of the fact that children have become more cautious and sedentary than any previous generation. The only people climbing rocks that day were middle-aged adults like me! We were probably the last generation to spend pretty much our entire childhood with grazed knees and elbows because of all the climbing and bike-riding and falls that were just a normal part of childhood. Those rocks would have represented an irresistible adventure to me if I’d gone to that beach as a child. That’s probably why I found myself nodding in agreement through our whole article on raising a resilient child, page 34.

The message is clear: let go a little, and let your child explore, let your child struggle, and, yes, let your child fall – and fail. Not only does it make them physically stronger, it builds character too!

Enjoy the holidays, stay safe and stay active!

Till next month,