Parent to Parent ParentValley MAGAZINE Oh how different things are now than they used to be in the summer! Here’s
what my summer days used to look like: We got up early (My mother may deny this, but this is my column and I’ll write it like I remember it.) and hit the door running out into the blazing heat. Bare feet, no shirt and skinny legs and bony elbows. None of my friends were fat. We simply ran too much to be fat. We built tree forts so high that these fat, wimpy kids today’d get a nosebleed. What I saw of my world, I saw from a bicycle seat or I caught it whizzing by
at a flat out running pace. We swam, we dug holes, played basketball and Frisbee football. We ate lunch wherever we happened to be at lunchtime. My mother only knew where we had lunch when my crowd of friends ate at my house. We cut grass, washed cars, blew up stuff with M-80s and cherry bombs and
roamed a several thousand-yard radius when we camped out. We smoked Swisher Sweets and rabbit tobacco and rode pine trees in the woods that used to be Wind- sor Park. Look around now. How many chubby kids do you see today? We’re all fat. Hell,
I’m fat. Things have got to change. I know the horse is out of the barn when it comes to the idyllic days of my childhood summers. There is too much meanness for our kids to be as free as we were when we were coming up. However, there’s no reason that we couldn’t do a better job of holding kids
accountable for chores, good nutrition and exercise. I think a very good place to start would be for parents to learn how to say the word “no” and make it stick. Wake up parents! If we’re going to turn this ship around, you’re the ones that
have got to get it done. There are great stories in this issue about obesity, citizen- ship and technology and how these subjects relate to our children. Thanks for reading VP, and if you like to read your magazines electronically,
soon you’ll be able to read VP on your iPad, iPhone, Android tablet or phone and on the Web. Now, go run your children off the sofa and out into the yard. Don’t let ‘em back in ‘til dark, even if they beg for their game controller. Just say no.
EDITORS/PUBLISHERS Mike Venable and Jill Tigner
mike@columbusandthevalley.com jill@columbusandthevalley.com
ASSISTANT EDITOR Callie Sprague
callie@columbusandthevalley.com
ADVERTISING SALES Carol Ann Kaplan
carolann@columbusandthevalley.com Beth Martin
beth@columbusandthevalley.com GRAPHIC DESIGN
Sixty Two Graphic Studio
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Belinda Barron Brett Buckner Beth Bussey
John Rosemond Calista Sprague
PHOTOGRAPHY Mike Culpepper
__________________________ P. O. Box 229
Columbus, GA 31902 ___________________________
706-324-6214 • fax 706-324-6216
www.valleyparent.com
Mike Venable Editor & Publisher
VALLEY PARENT MAGAZINE is published monthly by Chicken Dinner News, Inc., dba COLUMBUS AND THE VALLEY MAGAZINE, P. O. Box 229, Columbus, GA 31902. The cover and contents are fully protected and may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the written consent of COLUMBUS AND THE VALLEY MAGAZINE. We are not responsible for loss of unsolic- ited inquiries, manuscripts, photographs, transparen- cies, or other materials. They will not be returned unless accompanied by return postage. Editorial contributions and letters should be addressed to VALLEY PARENT MAGAZINE, Post Office Box 229, Columbus, GA 31902. Copyright © 2006 by Chicken Dinner News, Inc. trading as COLUMBUS AND THE VALLEY MAGA- ZINE. Subscriptions are available by mail for $25 per year. Call 706-324-6214 to subscribe. Postmaster: Please send address corrections to: Post Office Box 229, Columbus, GA 31902.
Valley Parent Magazine 2 Valley Parent | JULY 2012
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