Why My Little Family LOVES The Amazing Race!

  

In our household, we love, love, love The Amazing Race television show, no matter whether it's the American version, or our Canadian version! We actually only discovered it in the last 2 years or so, because it was something we could watch with our now 6yr old, something that we could all enjoy. We no longer had to always watch a purple dinosaur, a certain bald headed toddler and his little sister, etc. Parents - you get the idea! LOL Those shows were all fine and dandy when he was a toddler himself, (Not for us thought! LOL) but now that he was getting older, it was nice to be able to sit down as a family and have a show that is "ours". One that we can bond over!

Which brings us to the Amazing Race! We love it because it is something that most people from 2yrs-99yrs can typically watch and enjoy. There are the occasional "scary" parts for my son, usually those challenges for him are the ones involving heights. When I try and tell him that when he gets older, he will likely enjoy those things, he always says (so far anyways) "Not me Mom!".  But it's not like people are getting dumped into a pit of snakes or forced to do other activities that terrify someone on a phobic level. They are obstacles that challenge the participants not only on a physical level, but on a psychological level as well. There are times when they don't think they can do it, and eventually usually try it all the same only to surprise themselves and discover that they could in fact accomplish that task after all. And pushed themselves beyond what they thought they could ordinarily do!

I love these lessons for my son, and sometimes even as a "refresher" for myself! I love how sometimes some people make the decision to switch tasks once they realize that it might not be working for them! What a great thing to teach our kids, that just because we try and try and something doesn't seem to be working, we can try even harder! And if that doesn't work, it's OK to try another route! It's about perseverance, a quality that I hope I'm instilling in my children. (And not only through the Amazing Race for the record! LOL)

I love the camaraderie, the competitiveness, and sometimes even a little bit of conflict. Not drama, conflict. These are all factors that happen in life and many times allow us to open up a little dialogue about how some people could have better handled a situation. To help teach my son to think about what he will do in the future and hopefully teach him to better weigh options and evaluate what he might have done differently to achieve a better result. To know that it's OK to do your best and have it not be the best overall compared to others. But to take personal pride in one's own accomplishments, and having overcome obstacles that they typically would never thought that they were capable of doing had it not been for pushing themselves a little bit further or going out of their comfort zone for something that is worth fighting for.

I love that it shows us various parts of the world, even if it may not be all realistic, or things that we would typically do or desire! (Like next weeks' episode of eating snake bile? No way in hell - I think I just puked in my own mouth!) Ways people live around the world, different ethnicities, different practices! I love how each destination includes enriching cultural practices, modes of transportation, vocations, etc. It allows my son to see that not everyone in the world lives the same way we do, that not all people practice the same religion or cultural values. But that we are all at the end of the day, one and the same - human!  And that another person or culture might have a better way of doing things than what we, ourselves, are doing right now.

And the most organic reason for us is just plain old simple competitiveness! During each season premiere since we started watching, each person in our household picks their 1st choice and their back up teams. We cheer them on and enjoy playful banter amongst ourselves while watching things unfold - together! While it's so easy in this day and age to just let our kids play video games, or be too busy to sit down for family time, The Amazing Race allows us to do something pretty amazing in this day and age too! - Making and finding the time to all sit together as a family and bond over something constructive that can teach and/or remind each one of us to give it our all. That we just might surprise ourselves!

My first choice for this round of Amazing Race Canada is Nathalie Spooner & Meaghan Mikkelson and my back up team is Sukhi & Jinder Atwal. This seemed like such an easy pick at first glance and on initial impressions, but as we've now watched the 2nd episode, I'm once again reminded that each competitor brings their own strength, resilience and determination to the game - just like each one of our (and your) family members do too!

Happy Racing!

***** These views are mine, and mine alone. As with anything, you are responsible for assessing whether this item and/or activity is safe and suitable for your specific needs. InfoMommy does not make any warranties of any kind, expressed or implied, and assumes no responsibility and/or liability for any actions taken as a result of this blog post.*****