I have a friend who’s three year old son has never tasted candy. Ever. His Easter basket was filled with pretzels, almonds and fruit. I like to remind her that one day, he WILL taste candy…. and it will be well before it’s time for him to choose her nursing home.
Actually, I am in awe of her. It’s not easy to keep our kids on the right path. Temptation is everywhere. And it’s not just about food. Exercise for kids is a tough one, too. P.E. classes are being cut. Not every child wants to play team sports, or dance, or break wooden boards.
I formed The Easy Peasy Kids Fitness Foundation because I believe that kids should be moving around, running, and playing outside, preferably with their family and friends! At Easy Peasy, we create magical , memory making running events like The Kids Fitness Zombie Chase, and the Daddy’s Girl Tutu2k.
We also have made it our mission to ensure that financial hardships NEVER stand in the way of kiddos participating in our events. We scholarship a minimum of ten percent of our race participants, via local charitable organizations like Wounded Warrior, Girls, Inc, and Special Olympics. We donate the proceeds from our events to local children’s fitness groups that provide free programs, like Marathon High, Police Athletic League, YMCA, and The Shannon Miller Foundation.
I am unbelievably proud to announce that in May, we will be launching our Team Easy Peasy Kids Club.
Here’s how it works: When you register your child, they will receive a club tshirt and a permanent marker. Every time they run or walk a mile, they will color in a pea on the back of the shirt. They can run/walk these miles with friends, in a group, at race events… however and whenever they like! They can even break the miles up into shorter distances!
Once they have the entire shirt colored in, they will receive a Team Easy Peasy 25 Mile medal!
BUT WAIT! There’s much more! They will also receive invitations and special discounts to family running events, a chance to build their own medal holder to hang medals, weekly newsletters, and entrance into the Team Easy Peasy Kids Clubhouse at lots of events around the city!
Your child can join as an individual, with siblings and friends, or, PARENTS AND TEACHERS can contact us to set up school, church, troop, after-school, neighborhood or club teams. This is a great way to be sure students stay active over the summer, and since our mission at The Easy Peasy Kids Fitness Foundation is to make fitness programs available to all kids, fees are determined by each parent, on a sliding scale. (Suggested donation is $15 per child but no child will be turned away!)
You can check it all out here at www.easypeasyjax.com and be sure to like us on Facebook!
Oh, and back to that friend of mine… the one who’s kid only eats raisins on Halloween? Well, she knows what’s coming when school starts. And, hey, everything in moderation!
About the Author
Eden Kendall can be heard each weekday morning on 99.9 Gator Country and seen weekly on The Cut on WJXT Channel 4. She is a group fitness trainer at Timed:Exercise and the founder and Pea-resident of The Easy Peasy Kids Fitness Foundation. Eden has a patient husband, a condescending 17 year old son, Noah, and a boy-crazy 14 year daughter, Chloe.
