More X-Country and NFL Play 60

This past Sunday after shoveling the driveway I headed to Mendon to x-country ski on the Lehigh Valley Trail. It was my first time on this trail. It is only 10 minutes from the house and I had only about an hour and half of play time. I passed up on Mendon Ponds as I wanted to avoid the crowd. The trail is straight as an arrow and flatter than flat. It was a bright sunny 25 degree day. A perfect day to get a light workout and enjoy the outdoors.



Upon my return from skiing I turned on the Giants/Eagles game as we began to prepare dinner. As I watched for the upteenth time Eli Manning do his PSA for NFL Play 60 I stopped and asked Jen since when do we need to have programs to get kids to play for 60 minutes a day. I know many of us recall our childhood as the good ol' days, but I can distinctly remember playing daily outside or in a friend's house or the community rec center when it was too cold. During the summer we would play one sport another all day long and only stop on the hour to listen to the church bells to determine how much longer we had before our games would be halted by dinner. In the evening we would either meet at the church down the street for a game of tag or hop on our bikes for a 2 hour tour around our 1 stop light town.

Although I cannot fault the NFL for Play 60 I do wonder whether kids now expect someone to determine what they are going to play and when. If we left children to decide on their own may they play 60 or more minutes a day? Of course we would have to limit 'screen time', but I would think that most children would turn to some type of play given the opportunity. Not having children I will not know the answer, but one can only hope that children still know how to play for at least 60 minutes a day.