Shoveling Is Good

Is this a controversial topic for those that live in the snowy environments?!

I know that there are a lot of people who would vehemently disagree with me - saying that shoveling is one of the worst things in the world. For me though, it's quite the opposite! I actually thoroughly enjoy shoveling, and I've been saying that for many years. This year is no different!

Shoveling is one of the best ways in which we can get some decent exercise in the winter, and I think that's one of the things that people don't seem to appreciate or take advantage of. With the wintertime being a time where we get minimal sunlight, temperatures are usually prohibitive for many things outdoors, and we don't eat the best compared to the summertime. There are lots of reasons that the wintertime is difficult on our bodies, and combine that with a bit less of a desire to be physically active and you've got a challenging recipe!

With shoveling, in a lot of ways, it forces you to be outside and to do the cleaning of the area. It gives you fresh air, exposure to sunlight if you are doing this during the daylight hours, and an amazing whole body exercise! You really can't get better than that in the wintertime, no joke!

I have taken this mindset and also instilled this into my son. I never say that I hate shoveling, although my wife says it every single time which is a little tedious but we get past it. Shoveling is one of the activities that I do with him that is really a great way for him to get some life lesson. He gets to figure out good ways to deal with the snow challenge we are presented with and he's learning really well.

We got some decent snow the other day which was great, although a few inches less than I wanted but it worked out because we had other things that we needed to do. With this, it required us to do some shoveling and I've been trying to let him take the lead on things. I asked him where he thinks we should start, and the doors of the car was a pretty good starting place as it was one of the ones I would have chosen.

Getting the path to the car doors cleared so that we can get into it and start it, get it warmed up and let the wife hang out inside of it are good reasons to have started it. Of course then it was cleaning up the snow on the car itself, but I think it was good to try and let him strategize what we should do. I don't always do this, I will admit, and I for sure need to get better at letting him take the lead on things to gain confidence and ability, but for this one it was good for me to do that.

The other thing that I've been doing with him while we are shoveling is to go around to the people we like such as our neighbors and shovel their spots out. The plow company that the place we live in employs does a decent job, but they leave room to be desired. That means that we shovel our spot out and then clear off our neighbors after the plows are done. This helps also show him that we go and do things for others just because it's the right thing to do. It may not be the best thing to do at the time, but we do it because it's right.

I'm hoping that we get a few more snowstorms this winter, and hopefully a big one or two! That would be great, and it will for sure also let me get some awesome pictures for Hive! I took a few with this one that I'll eventually get written and posted, but I need more that's for sure!

What about you, do you think it's a good thing to do something like shoveling? Let me know in the comments!