Now, for a substantial percentage of kids – boys especially – having dad take time out to throw a ball around is the highlight of their day (and often their week). Not so for my little angel. He vehemently opposes ANYthing to do with sports, from watching them to talking about them, and especially playing them! And unlike many kids who might just voice their opposition and surrender, his autism wires his brain to believe that this is literally the greatest tragedy he will endure in this life. Really. The flip side of his brain coin also blessed him with an unusual amount of ADHD to cope with, so physical exercise is a must.

“Daddy, why are you torturing me with this?” he cries, as if he’s being waterboarded. No amount of logical discussion from me has a bit of an impact.

“Well, son, these are life skills that you will need to participate in high school activities,” I explain. Bla bla bla…

“But daddy, I go to a school without sports.”

“True,” I respond, but what if you end up at a different school?”

“I still won’t play football…”

So after about three volleys of this unwinnable logic during my with a 12-year-old with the intellect that matches many college students and the emotional response of a 5-year-old, I land the crushing blow. I was able to leverage his passion for nature and the outdoors to get in our requisite father-son moment.

“All right, how about once you catch the ball ten times, we’ll go play in the streams of water running down the street?”

‘Nuff said. He offered up a hundred percent effort, despite several fits about hurt hands from catching the ball. The photo of Kyle and I hiking Ocala National Forest earlier this year is my reminder that he will do anything to be able to participate in nature. If not for my realization that he, like everyone, is only interested in things important to himself, we’d still be out there debating a game of catch in the rain. I got what I wanted and needed – and so did he.

My beef with this is, wouldn’t it be better to develop a program that actually gets kids OFF the computer games and OUT the door, instead of playing a diet game like Food Push, pictured here? It is described as "…a fun, and exciting video game that teaches, and entertains. It's simple, you just push food onto the child's plate to make him eat. Make sure he gets all his servings of fruits, vegetables, dairy, grain, and meat without having him go over his daily amount of calories. If you get him all his daily servings a new day will begin for you to start all over again. Try to get the most points…”

Sure, I get that it’s important to promote healthy eating habits among children, but perhaps a promoting a sedentary habit to stimulate a physical one isn’t the answer. Ultimately, the healthy lifestyle behaviors we model are what will have the greatest effect on our children, from how we handle stress (and the language we use to handle it), to how often we get off our duff and do ANY kind of active lifestyle activities, from walking after dinner to competing in community race events for charity.

So use the games for a teaching tool, then SHOW them how to get out into the world and experience the joys of an active lifestyle. With that, I cut this short, so I can get up in the morning and play ball with my son. I may never be the perfect parent, but I never want to fall short of having perfect intentions.