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Fitness has always been a part of my life. As a very young child I remember spreading a towel on the living room floor and doing the Royal Canadian Airforce exercises with my mother. We did them religiously. I remember nightly neighborhood kickball games, masterminded by my parents. And I remember hauling the family up to New Hampshire to hike the White Mountains and camp out. I don’t remember ever seeing soda, snack cakes, or fried chips in our home. There wasn’t a big fitness or health movement back then, so I am grateful that my parents went with their instincts. And they continue to set great examples: my mother bicycles to work and takes flamenco dancing, my father lifts weights and does laps around their kitchen. I kid you not! Kudos and thanks to both of them! As a family with four children, a lot of our entertainment was “homemade.” We didn’t own a television until I was six years old, and there wasn’t much in the way of children’s programming anyway. I recall shooting hoops, making a high jump and dried leaf pit, hurdling over backyard benches, and practicing gymnastic dismounts on a pull up bar in my bedroom. |
When I met my friend Margie Magraw, my athletic prospects seemed to pick up – she was a gymnast, and darn good too! I hope her parents have forgiven us for dragging the living room couch cushions outside for a tumbling mat. Margie and I trained with Olympic coach Dr. Joseph Massimo for several years as part of “Doc’s flock.” Margie and I competed together in high school and in college at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Margie was always much better than I, and she remains a rock-solid friend. We get a thrill out of seeing our children play together. After college, I returned to Boston and worked as an exercise physiologist in a corporate fitness center next to Fanueil Hall Marketplace. My responsibility was the cardiovascular program (treadmills, stationary bicycles, rowers). There was a rather handsome guy, Jon Sweet, who would run outside (instead of using the treadmill) and then lift weights at the facility. I actually learned how to teach Nautilus so I could “help” him. I can’t say I helped anyone else with the same care! The results were good; four years later we were married. We’ve been enjoying sharing our love for fitness ever since. Soon after our daughter, Marja, was born, we started bringing her to the gym with us. She adored watching the aerobics classes. When she was three I began to teach aerobics. Marja always wanted to climb onto the aerobic step with me as I was “practice teaching” – so I relented and made her my first student. She turned out to be a little more coordinated than some of my subsequent students. We made up a little routine and started to compete and perform together as a mother/daughter team. (Later, our business manager, Ian Barrett, a Formula One racing fan, named us “Team Sweet.”) We performed on the regional level
and then at the AAU Nationals in Washington, D.C. I guess we must have been somewhat amusing because we were invited to be part of the AAU U.S. Team to Pretoria, South Africa. We were lucky enough to have sponsors (including South African Airways) and great friends (the Mokabas) who made this trip possible. We knew this trip would be lots of fun, but we didn’t expect all the media interest. Life wasn’t quite the same after that. Marja and I have enjoyed some awesome experiences together, traveled quite a bit, and met terrific people along the way. Our goal has always been to inspire other parents and kids to exercise together.
Hats off to Marja! Marja worked hard, and as a result she really changed my life. I am forever indebted to her for that. Many of my projects are a direct result of her being my teammate and workout partner! Many of the activities in the book came from experiences we had and projects that we did together as a family. At age three, Marja was the youngest aerobics competitor in the world and as a result received a citation from the governor, appeared in the press quite a bit, and performed at various fundraisers and fitness events. At age seven she won the AAU Junior Olympics (competing in the nine to eleven category).
Often I have been asked, “How did you train Marja?” Training a toddler requires a mixture of creativity, participation, enthusiasm, and praise. We practiced aerobic routines just prior to performances (so she wouldn’t be bored with it). But we “trained” each day using everyday items we had around the house: trash baskets, balloons, broom handles, hand towels, empty water jugs. The outdoors was a big gym to us – walls to walk, cracks in the sidewalk to jump over, trees to climb on. If we were traveling, we found ways to exercise wherever we were. We did knee lifts in our airplane seats, tried chair push-ups in the hotel room, and we raced down convention center corridors. The key was we did it together. It was easy, convenient, inexpensive entertainment, and it was one of the ways we played together. My hope is that you, the web site reader, will adapt each idea in the tips section according to what you have to work with and, more importantly, to what you and your playmate(s) enjoy! Make these activities your own creation. Have a ball! Become a child once again! Eating well goes hand and hand with fitness. In my mind, in order to be truly fit and healthy, you must fuel your body with the best nutrients you can, factoring in your budget, time, and tastes. It’s not only what you don’t eat that matters (replacing high fat foods with low fat ones), but perhaps more importantly, what you do eat. I prefer foods that are not overly processed, that have labels with ingredients I can pronounce, and that don’t have an unusually long shelf life! I certainly don’t mean to imply that our household is perfect. We’ve had our struggles along the way and continuously work towards eating well while living in the “real” world. I empathize with the trials and tribulations of other parents because I know, firsthand, how difficult it is to nourish your child. Thank you to all the parents who recognize that “fitness is a parental responsibility” and lead their children every day by the example they live. To all the children I have met who “rocked my world” – thank you! |
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