That's a debatable topic for sure, and one that I can't shed much light on considering I have no children and didn't play any sports as a kiddo. I was a total bookworm, so much so that my parents used to threaten to take away my library books if I didn't get my chores done. I got into competitve swimming in high school which I loved. I was a distance swimmer. Nothing like the feeling of sweating in the water. Yup, it totally happens and is truly an odd sensation.

Okay, some good links to share.

The Mayo Clinic has this excellent resource for parents on choosing the right activity depending on your child's age:

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/fitness/SM00057

And here is a link about getting girl's involved with sports. Notice it actually comes from a tobacco prevention effort by the government. That's because team sports help keep kids from smoking:

http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/sport_initiatives/daugthertips.htm

And speaking of sports-- have you seen this blog??

http://www.sportsbusinessradio.com/

My friend Brian does this radio show and we got to talking at lunch the other day about how it seems like everyone is blogging these days. But I have to tell you I am NOT happy that he neglected Terry Tate, Office Linebacker from the list of top 10 sports commercials. :-)

Have a great weekend! I'm going to check out the Vancouver Jazz and Wine Festival:
http://www.vancouverwinejazz.com/main.php

I need to take pictures. I haven't posted any in a while. Maybe you should send me a few!!

sstricklen@kgw.com

And then we have some friends who are getting married. I'm anchoring the am show next week too, and man o man am I pooped!!!

Julia wrote me about a couple of stories and blogs:

Re: Moms/Dads and weight gain -- I'm divorced and my daughter has spent considerably more time with her dad than my son has in the 10 years since we separated. Dad and daughter are heavy, and son and I are not, though I don't know where that 17 year old boy puts all that food he eats! I think you have to also consider the treats factor of visiting dads -- sugar splurging in addition to fast food. Dad and I have been vegetarians for over 30 years and the kids are too, through no choice of their own, but still too much fat and sugar is a bad thing.

Congrats on training for your second half marathon. That's great! I tried marathon training twice, and wound up with stress fractures both times. For some reason my mother always told me that narrow feet with high arches was a desirable trait, but then she never was a runner! So I got the hint -- I'm not built for that kinda mileage. However I'm off soon to do my lunch hour esplanade loop. I love the afterglow.

Yup. I need to run this weekend but I'm not doing 8. TOO tired!
sstricklen@kgw.com