Geocaching helps cure couch potato syndrome

I once went to a seminar in Branson Missouri where the guest speaker was Lt. Col. Dave Grossman.  He is an amazing speaker, and will scare the fire out of you all at the same time.  He had a lot of opinions about the use of Game consoles in a house with children.  It seemed that the only viable link on major school violence was in fact the game console.

I had the opportunity to speak to him about on particular book he wrote called
"Stop Teaching Our Kids To Kill", it was a very powerful message.  I actually own an autographed copy of it.  I read it intently, and was really amazed at the statistics listed.  I had to consider what all was said.  Lt. Col. Grossman had made this book as his "call to action against, TV, Movie and Video Game Violence". 

I sat and though of the content of what he was saying in the book and looked back at my own parenting skills.  I really felt bad about the whole mess, I was just as guilty of having the electronic baby sitter.  I looked at my children and realized, that I was making a new bread of couch potato in my own home!  I can recite every episode of most all the programming on Nickelodeon! 

A year had passed since I went to the Seminar, and I swore that I was going to do better.  I gave in to reality TV!  I am a sucker for it all.  I got to fall back into the routine of doing the same thing over and over again.  I had really became the big slacker again, and my children fell into the habits again.

I was looking for a book to take into the man cave (bathroom), and stumbled across Lt. Col. Groomsman's book again.  Flipping through the pages made me remember my fear again.  Once again I had to evaluate my own true skills as a parent.  My daughter Lyndsey was trying to watch TV one day and came to me.  She said "Daddy you know this is Noggin's Big Wide Day of Play day."  I said "it is!  How do you know?"   She said "it is on my TV."  So I got up and went and looked at her TV, and sure enough it was!

I turned off the TV in the living room and we got up and went out to go geocaching.  we spent most all day outside, and we had such a wonderful time while doing it.  The sun was shining, the wind was perfect, and the smiles were being delt like a fine poker hand.

In retrospect I see that geocaching had in effect taken my children and I off of the couch and put us back outside.  I looked to Geocaching as the presciption for a couch potato, a cure to an old ailment.  No TV, No video games, me, the kids and the world.

If you or someone you love suffer from couch potato syndrome, GO GEOCACHING!  I guarantee results the same day you go.  Have a wonderful time, and hide new cache this week in memory of someone you love.