Time To Play Developing A Common Sports Interest Can Help Keep Families Close

The family that plays together stays together. That is, if you can coordinate everyone’s schedules, finish the yard work, pry the children away from the television and get them out the door.

It can be a major challenge to make time to enjoy recreational activities. Still, many parents are finding it’s worth the extra effort to experience the joys of playing sports with their children.

Bud Malmsten, counselor and co-owner of Freedom First Counseling Service, said family playtime helps children feel secure.

“If you spend time playing together, you are giving the child a message that he or she is important. You can’t give a child a better message than that,” he said.

Play is a huge part of growing up. When parents playfully interact with children, they’re speaking the kid’s own language and making themselves more human to them.

“To play together just builds a bond,” Malmsten said.

Years ago, Malmsten asked a friend who had successfully raised 14 children for some parenting tips. His pal recommended that Malmsten raise his young children so that when they were grown, they would still want a close relationship with their parents.

Whether kids are hacking away at golf balls or teetering precariously on roller blades, they’re learning important lessons about what it takes to master various skills.

The Morans are a golf-loving family. Jim and Margaret and their two children, Connor, 10, and Allison, 12, golf together once or twice a week.

Connor and Allison learned beginning rules and etiquette last year through a junior golf program at Manito Golf & Country Club. This year they were ready to hit the course for some family fun.

Rather than compete with each other, family members work to improve their own games. “One kid will do better on one hole and the other will do better on the next,” but they always encourage each other, Jim Moran said.

“I think it brings us together as a family, and it’s something we look forward to in the summer because it’s really peaceful and just a great walking experience,” he said.

Moran believes kids learn essential life lessons from sports. Mastering golf takes patience, practice and dedication. Kids learn to overcome adversity and challenge, and to keep trying if they want to get better.

Moran’s wife, Margaret, said, “The great thing about playing together is it teaches kids to accept compliments graciously when they make a good shot, and also to receive instruction.”

Single parent Jody Duffey, her 12-year-old son Derek and 4-year-old daughter Emily have a weekly date at Valley Bowl.

Derek started bowling when he was 5 years old, and today has an average of 169. Emily plays in a peewee league. All three practice together on Saturdays.