Summer Vacation

Due to changes being made in the Filipino school year, this past Wednesday was the start of J.P.'s summer vacation. He doesn't return to school until sometime in August. He deserves a long vacation. When we arrived here from the U.S., his year in the 2nd grade had just ended and his start of 3rd grade in Philippines was almost immediate. His vacation between 2nd and 3rd grades was less than 2 weeks.

Even though he has an extra long vacation this year, I don't plan on his time being idle.

He's typical of many kids growing up in the digital age. His reading is below par. I've told him that the number of books he'll read this year WILL increase. No more spending so much time on the phone or PC. Less TV. More Harry Potter.

Another change planned for this summer is to increase his physical activity. The amount of weight he's put on since we purchased the Wii disturbs me and his mother.

This morning brought in a change in his exercise routine. At 7:00 AM, he and I walked the kilometer from the apartment to the gym where I work out. Together, he and I did 45 minutes of weight training. Of course, my routine was modified for him. Naturally, the weights he used were considerably less than what I'd normally use. We want him to exercise, not hurt himself. Not only were the weights lower for him, but I did fewer "sets" for each of the exercises. Where I would have normally done four sets of a particular exercise, I reduced the number of sets this time to two. We'll increase the number of sets as time goes on.

I have to be careful that I maintain a good workout for me. The lower number of sets will still allow me to tone the muscles. I can always increase my weights if I sense I'm falling behind.

After the weight training, we headed back toward the apartment, taking a detour to the beach for twenty or thirty minutes in the ocean.

From the beach, it was the final walk home. We left the apartment at 7:00 and arrived back at 9:20. It was quite a pleasant morning for father and son.