This is a Rant, so be warned!!! Read if you dare, and move on if you please!
I enrolled Veg in to a Sports Camp. The venue is nice, the "coaches" are all Adults or older Teens.. and the program has a LOT of kids. Veg asked for this particular program, and so we signed him up. It is all about keeping kids active, and enjoying sports. Perfect right?
Within the first 10 minutes of the very first day, the leader of the camp whom EVERYONE looks up to, goes on to talk about his favorite Fast Food Restaurant. And then proceeds to have every counselor share their favorite big fatty dead animal saturated pile of Yuck at each of their favorite fast food restaurants.
The kids were all sitting down oogling over all these foods that these people were sharing. Their Favorite, what they eat all the time foods!!!
First of all, even if you choose to eat that junk, an athletic camp is NO place to share that info with kids. And Even if you DO share the info with kids, why oh why would you make it Cool, to eat that artery clogging, heart stopping crud, by the very people that these kids are supposed to look up to for the next 7 days!
But it didn't stop there....NOOOooo, Their snacks? Candy... Their awards and prizes? Yeah, Candy!!! ALL CANDY... and I'm not talkin' a Vegan Lollipop, I'm talking the dye filled, artificial, sugary pieces of nonsense in a wrapper...
I would expect this from other programs. I may not like it, but hey, to each their own.. I don't sign him up for Robot camp to learn about nutrition. But when it comes to an athletic sports camp, the people the kids look up to should be role models. I'm just sayin'!!!
<<<<RANT ADJOURNED>>>>
FYI - He had a GREAT time, the kids were great, he had fun, and the coaches definitely left an impression.
Sadly the first thing he said when he got in the car was:
"Mom, if sports is supposed to be healthy, than why were all the snack bins full of candy?"
Hmmm... Good Question young man!
Eventually he told me the good stuff of his day, and that he really wants to go back tomorrow. He decided that if he won any candy, he would either give it to someone else, or bring it home and make a "Winners Circle" activity with it.
I thought that was a pretty good idea! But also quite a shame that the biggest thing he remembered about his coaches was what they eat for fast food and how much candy they dished out.
OK.. Rant Really Adjourned,
Signed,
Disappointed Mom