One Size Does Not Fit All
Family fitness shouldn't be about keeping up with the Joneses, or even about keeping up with mom or dad. You and your children each have unique interests and abilities that you should encourage and nurture. Sometimes this will involve tailoring your fitness routines to accommodate these differences.
It's possible that dad's bad knee makes ice-skating a bad choice, while mom's fear of heights has her wary of a day on the ski slopes. Split up some family activities to accommodate different physical needs and interests. Mom may take one child skating while the other skis with dad. Later that day or even at the next family outing, the kids can switch places.
Adapting to family members' special needs is also important in the dietary arena. When your child has food allergies and your spouse is on a cholesterol- or sodium-restricted diet, you have those added needs to consider when balancing your family food plan. The good news is that if you've already been paying careful attention to what your family is eating, you probably won't have as difficult an adjustment to planning healthy meals the whole family will enjoy.
Everyone's a Winner
Children who are not competitive or athletically inclined will start to dread family activities if they revolve around contests in which one person strives to be the best or beat the others. While the ages of your children will influence what activities you share in as a family, you should also remain aware that kids of similar ages may have very different levels of expertise at certain things. If this is an issue for your family, and your child seems to feel intimidated by a sibling's athleticism, be sure to focus family time on noncompetitive activities that can be enjoyed at a variety of fitness levels. Hiking, swimming, and cycling may be good fits for your family.
Be Flexible
Although its important to commit to regular family fitness time each week, also recognize that a particularly difficult homework assignment, an unplanned meeting at the office, a school play, or any other number of other happenings may occasionally get in the way of your family plans. Be willing to work with the schedule, and adjust it as necessary. You should make it clear, however, that all family members who can speak and plan their own social activities without parental involvement are responsible for letting you know about upcoming events so you can plan ahead. You can't rely exclusively on the memory of your younger children, but you can ask that they take responsibility to the best of their ability.
My kids have a knack for telling me about a scout meeting or a big game the morning of the event. How can I plan family time when things are so last-minute?
Keeping track of your younger child's calendar should be easy. Unless you pester them for details, however, older kids and teens don't always clue Mom or Dad in to important events until the last minute. At the start of each school week, ask your child if there are any important assignments or school-related events planned for the week, and note them on the family calendar. Encourage your kids to write in events on the calendar, too.
You should also remain flexible about what you're going to do and have options in mind should weather or other uncontrollable factors throw a wrench into your plans. When rain puts the kibosh on your biking adventure, a visit to the indoor community pool may be a backup plan.
Finally, flexibility is a must when trying to plan meals for picky eaters. Don't force-feed your child broccoli if she hates it, no matter how good it is for her. She can have carrots and green beans every night if those are the vegetables she knows and loves. That doesn't mean the rest of the family has to forsake the broccoli. You can also think about preparing broccoli in different ways for other family members — your picky eater may decide it looks pretty good after all in a different dish or form.
Providing a wide variety of tasty, nutritious foods is the best way to please a family that may have very different tastes. To keep yourself or your spouse from having to spend hours on end in the kitchen, give children their food choices before you prepare the meal. This way, you can ensure that they're going to eat at least something that's on the menu, and food won't go to waste.
