Ms Frog can play real sports if she wants to; she doesn't have to try to be the best at exercising like her parents (sorry, Kenny Powers). She's nowhere near old enough to participate in sports, but she will be one day. Both of us did sports as kids and while I can't speak for my husband, I know I'm better for it. I swam pretty seriously in high school and I enjoyed it even though I wasn't a super-star by any stretch of the imagination. Swimming taught me to set goals and achieve them through hard work. I think it also helped me tune out the messages I was receiving from my immediate surroundings about the importance of being pretty above all else. I wasn't a pretty girl, but being a strong girl went a long way in helping me develop some much-needed self confidence. Ms Frog is a very pretty girl, but regardless, I see confidence in one's strength as the root to a positive self-image. It's a short leap from "I can climb that tree" or "I can run fast" to "I'm smart enough to do X" or "I'm good enough to deserve Y". This doesn't have an age limit and is equally applicable to a small child, teen, or adult woman. Being fit and training for my increasingly crazy races gives me confidence in both personal and professional situations. Likewise, Ms Frog stood up taller the day she kicked a ball or did a somersault for the first time.
The other really important thing I learned from sports is that sometimes your best simply isn't good enough. I remember how rotten it was to get a bad time or have my school team lose a meet. Since I was a teenager, I'd go home thinking it was the end of the world. The next morning, I would (usually) wake up and vow to work harder in practice or take more time to help a team-mate so this wouldn't happen next time. I've experienced some bumps in the road during my adult life and I know there were points I would have given up on various things if I hadn't learned from sports to keep trying even if it's tough. We tell Ms Frog to shake it off or that she's tough when she gets hurt. When she's bigger, I imagine we'll tell her to keep at it if a game, meet, or other sports event doesn't go her way.
